Liquor Stores Get Two Sunday Holidays:

Big Sales Or Seasonal Slump?

By Shannon Hicks

A bill passed by the Connecticut General Assembly in the last session will allow liquor stores and any other location operating with a package store permit or grocery store beer permit to be open for two Sundays this month. Package stores in Connecticut will now be allowed to open on the Sundays that precede Christmas and New Year’s Day provided the holidays themselves fall on Monday.

This does not mean Connecticut package stores will be opening on a regular basis on Sundays. After this month, unless the state radically changes its view of alcohol sales on the Sabbath, it will be another seven years before store owners will be able to once again take advantage of the new law.

According to Raised Bill No 368, An Act Concerning Sunday Sales By Package Stores, “the sale or dispensing of alcoholic liquor in places operating under package store permits, drug store permits or grocery store beer permits shall be unlawful on Decoration Day [Memorial Day], Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, New Year’s Day, Sunday, except any Sunday that precedes New Year’s Day that occurs on a Monday or Christmas that occurs on a Monday, or Christmas…” The italicized segment of the previous sentence is the addition to a bill that was originally passed in 1933.

In addition to the package stores in Newtown, Grand Union, Big Y, and Super Stop & Shop will also be allowed to sell beer on December 24 and December 31.

Merchants in Newtown have very mixed feelings concerning the new legislation. Overall, the majority is certainly not looking forward to working on what are being called the “Sunday holidays.” One merchant has decided, however, he will not take advantage of the new law; another store’s owners are actually looking forward to working the Sunday holidays.

Most package store owners seem to think being open will infringe on the holiday celebrations planned by their families or of their employees. Another large concern is the fact most consumers do not seem to even know about this new law, which makes it difficult for proprietors to decide what their operating schedule should be and how many employees they should have on hand. Raised Bill No 368 was quietly enacted and publicly announced last February, but the public does not seem to have taken much notice.

“For someone like me, I’m here on my own every day, so I won’t be violating [any employees’] holiday by being open,” Dominic A. Graziano said last week. Mr Graziano is the proprietor of Newtown Package Store on Church Hill Road.

 “I think the jury is still out on how this law will affect our businesses,” Mr Graziano said. “I think most consumers are still not aware we’re going to be open. I suspect it will not increase business substantially.

“What it will do,” he continued, “is take what would have been an average work week and spread it out an extra day.”

Logistics is a deciding factor for some store owners, including Bob Schnut, the proprietor of Yankee Discount Wine & Liquors. His store is in Queen Street Shopping Center, next to Big Y.

“The grocery stores are going to be open those days, so it would be foolish for me not to open, too,” Mr Schnut pointed out. “There’s traffic there, which could mean traffic here.”

Most package store owners have said they will most likely play it by ear when it comes to actually being open for the Sunday holidays.

“So many people are so used to us being closed that it probably won’t affect sales,” predicts Helen Zachman who, with her husband, owns Helen & Jerry’s House of Good Spirits on Main Street South.

“Am I thrilled about [this new law]? No,” said Mrs Zachman. “I would rather spend the time with my family, of course, and we have far too few days off during the year as it is.

“But we’re going to open. We’ll probably have abbreviated hours, but we will open,” she said.

Don Gabriel, Sr, says World of Wine & Spirits of Newtown will also be open, but with a shortened schedule. Mr Gabriel’s son, Don N. Gabriel, is the proprietor of the Main Street South store.

“I’ll stay open until [customers] stop coming in on Christmas Eve,” said the senior Mr Gabriel. “New Year’s Eve, though, we’ll be here until 8.”

“We’ll have to be open,” the junior Mr Gabriel said. “We’ll have to be here because this is a business. It’s a convenience for customers, but I think most of them will still be here before Sunday for their purchases. Either that, or they’ll finish by early Sunday.”

“I think it’s terrible, but I’m certainly not going to close,” said Stop & Save Liquor proprietor Gina Cavaliere. “I don’t think we’re going to gain anything, but I’ll have to be open.”

Mrs Cavaliere’s worry is that it will probably cost more money to open her Sand Hill Plaza shop, cover the electricity and heating, and pay employees to work on Sunday than will be brought in as revenue by the few customers making last-minute wine and beer purchases.

Most store owners seem to feel that a decision to remain closed December 24 and 31 is too much of a risk of lost business to competitors.

Not so, says Tony Caraluzzi of Taunton Wine & Liquor LLC. Mr Caraluzzi’s store has a number of signs posted that have been telling customers for a few weeks that his store on Mt Pleasant Road will be closed this and next Sunday.

“My feeling is if you’re going to change the law, you don’t change it on Christmas Eve,” said Mr Caraluzzi, the permittee and owner of Taunton Wine & Liquor. “If people are going to be shopping on those Sundays,” he continued, “they aren’t going to be shopping for our inventory.”

Mr Caraluzzi said a number of customers have actually said they respect the fact he has decided to allow his employees to keep a day they would normally have off.

“They find it more consistent with the spirit of the season,” he said of his customers. “If my employees haven’t worked on Sundays before, how can I ask them so start at this time of the year?”

On the opposite end of the spectrum stand the owners of Pootatuck Spirits. Shari and Mike Burton are the only store owners who are actually looking forward to the upcoming Sunday hours.

“I think this allows stores the potential to gain back some of the business they might otherwise lose on a closed Sunday,” Mrs Burton said. She and her husband have been running the Church Hill Road shop since early 1998, after they purchased the former K’s Korner Liquor Store.

“We usually see a lot of traffic on a regular Christmas and New Year’s Eve anyway, so I don’t mind,” Mrs Burton pointed out.

“I think it’s good for business. Yes it is an inconvenience,” Mrs Burton admitted, “but on the other hand when you’re a small store and you’re self-owned, you need to take any opportunity you can to help yourself and serve your customers.” Mrs Burton and her husband plan to split the weekend work so that it does not affect the time they will be spending with their families.

The Liquor Control Act adopted 67 years ago came in anticipation of the end of Prohibition and was the original law that prohibited the sale of alcohol on Good Friday, Christmas, and every Sunday. The General Assembly added Decoration Day (Memorial Day), Thanksgiving, and New Year’s Day in 1957; Independence Day and Labor Day were added to the law in 1971.

Alcohol also cannot be sold on Connecticut’s state holidays. In addition to the days mentioned above, state holidays include Martin Luther King Day, Presidents’ Day, Columbus Day, and Veterans’ Day.