Uncorked, liquor sales now flowing in N.Ky.

Sunday ban lifted, buyers respond

By Cindy Schroeder Enquirer staff writer

From Fort Mitchell to Florence, a growing number of Northern Kentucky businesses are taking the tarps off liquor and wine shelves on Sundays.

On Sept. 12, the Ohio riverfront town of Bellevue became the first Kentucky city to allow Sunday package liquor sales. The following Sunday, a new Ohio law ended a ban of more than 70 years on Sunday sales of spirits and bottles of wine. The goal was to make shopping easier and raise more tax dollars for the Buckeye state.

Since then, six Northern Kentucky cities have loosened restrictions on Sunday alcohol sales, and Villa Hills officials agreed last week to join them. Most start Sunday sales at 11 a.m.

And liquor sales are flowing freely.

Operators of many Northern Kentucky liquor stores say they've extended their Sunday hours to handle a significantly increased business.

"Sunday is one of the busiest shopping days of the week, so this just makes sense," said Jon Stiles, general manager of the Party Source in Bellevue that extended its Sunday closing time from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Northern Kentucky communities began ditching their decades-old "blue laws" after the state court of appeals ruled last summer that local governments have the right to allow Sunday package liquor sales.

The case began on a Sunday in July 2002, when the Party Source deliberately sold a bottle of Jim Beam to an Alcoholic Beverage Control agent, kicking off a court challenge.

When the Party Source began selling package liquor on Sundays 4 months ago, 50 people - most either in Cincinnati Bengals attire or their Sunday best - were waiting in line. Before then, the store was limited to selling beer, food and party supplies on Sundays.

"We used to do 300 or 400 transactions on a Sunday," Stiles said. "Now we do 1,600. Our overall business is up 10 percent, and our Sunday business is up 500 percent."

Kristin Milano, a former prosecutor in the Bronx, decided to buy spirits and wine at the Party Source last week after learning about the mega-store from a New York judge.

"When he visited his sister in Indian Hill, they would drive down to the Party Source because it had such great selection," the 33-year-old Independence woman said. As someone who was used to buying package liquor on Sundays back East, Milano said she was surprised that such sales are a new practice in Northern Kentucky.

Drew Murphy, general manager of Party Town in Florence, said his Sunday sales are double to triple what they were before mid-December, when officials there approved Sunday package liquor sales.

Bellevue Mayor Jack Meyer and City Administrator Don Martin say they've gotten nothing but positive feedback.

"I don't think most people want to turn the clock back to the '50s when everything was shut down on Sundays," said Timothy Hungler, executive director of the Northern Kentucky Interfaith Commission and interim pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Bellevue.

"Today, I just don't think most churches consider (Sunday alcohol sales) a major issue," Hungler said.

Sunday is the second-busiest shopping day of the week, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. Because of that, 32 states allow Sunday package liquor sales.

"With all of the two-income families, sometimes Sunday is the only day they can get their shopping done," Bellevue's mayor said.

Not everyone has made the switch though.

In December, Florence became the only place in Boone County to allow Sunday package liquor sales.

Robin Curry, assistant Boone County administrator, said that six of the 10 businesses that sell package liquor in the unincorporated county have asked that Sunday sales be allowed there. But Boone County Judge-executive Gary Moore said he doesn't plan to ask fiscal court to consider the issue.

"We don't have that many establishments outside of the city limits that it would affect," Moore said.

E-mail snipped-for-privacy@enquirer.com

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