Sunday Blue Laws Rollback?

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Submitted by Patti Peek Neumann on Tue, 01/08/2013 - 9:19am

As Washington, DC is trying to end Blue Laws in its area, its neighbor, Baltimore, Maryland liquor stores are fighting to keep their liquor stores open Sunday without the need to justify a percentage of on-site consumption. This subject, which is only part of the what is being analyzed, is currently under review by Baltimore City rezoning laws. The overall goals in the rezoning document, which I have read are to: decrease crime, increase city residents and decrease the amount of liquor licenses in the city. As an FYI, the City of Baltimore documents that today, there are 1330 total liquor licenses in Baltimore City as compared to 2,200 in 1968.

With execution of rezoning, some upscale boutique, liquor shops, (definitely, not all) potentially affected include: Grand Cru, Chesapeake Wine Company, Bin 604 and The Wine Source. My thought is Sunday liquor tastings and sales enhance the vibrant nature, the economy and the health of city life.

The exact wording of specific interest in regards to the boutique shops is:

"Currently, holders of BD-7 liquor licenses are permitted to sell alcoholic beverages for consumption on and off-site from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. seven days a week, compared to holders of A-2 licenses that are limited to off-site consumption sales and have more restrictive days and hours of operations. The new zoning code requires that all taverns have more than 50% of their sales and floor area for on-site consumption, to ensure that they are not just selling for off-site consumption."

According to DISCUS, the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States:

In 2012, 38 states permit Sunday retail sales of distilled spirits products. Reforming outdated Sunday sales restrictions on distilled spirits has been one of the Distilled Spirits Council’s most successful legislative initiatives at the state level. Since 2002, 16 states have joined the list of states allowing Sunday sales: Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington.

Allowing the sale of distilled spirits on Sundays gives customers added convenience and leads to increased revenues for the state. The Blue Laws are archaic, that is why they changed in the first place. Did you know that Sunday has become the 2nd busiest shopping day next to Saturday?

For the important 35-54 year old demographic, Sunday is the second most important grocery shopping day of the week. Some 16% of 35-54 year olds do their grocery shopping on Sundays. Since over 43% of total distilled spirits consumers fall into this age category, it means that the distilled spirits industry is denied access to at least 7% of our customer base.
An A.C. Nielsen study concluded that shoppers are more likely to buy on impulse on weekends than on Monday-Friday. By limiting spirits sales to Saturdays only, the amount of impulse susceptible exposure time distilled spirits customers have is cut in half.
Shoppers tend to spend more on Sunday’s than any other day of the week. While the typical grocery basket contains only $23.27 of goods Monday-Saturday, the Sunday basket has $28.23 - 21% more than other days of the week.

This week, Bin 604, of Baltimore, Maryland, sent out the following email to its loyal patrons requesting a petition of ending Sunday liquor sales:

"The City of Baltimore is going through a major re-zoning effort.

"TRANSFORM BALTIMORE is a city-wide effort to develop a state-of-the-art zoning code featuring new and more effective zoning tools to protect and enhance neighborhood character, guide private development and foster community revitalization."

Part of the re-zoning process is a public hearing to ensure the direction and decisions being made on behalf of the residents and businesses is sound, and in everyone's best interest. This is the opportunity for public voices to be heard to allow adjustments and provisions to the proposed code before it becomes law.

The new zoning code will affect liquor licenses and specifically several businesses with BD-7 licenses (aka tavern license). BIN 604 Wine Sellers has a BD-7 license, which allows the store to operate 7-days a week without the need of maintaining percentages of on-site and off-site consumption.

We are asking for your support to keep our zoning as it's currently written. All you need do is follow the link to the online petition and sign your name.

Having been a part of the Harbor East community for more than 10 years, we believe we provide balance and compatibility with other businesses in the area, offering the community character and a greater quality of life. Because we are a business, we also provide jobs, including management, and full and part-time hourly positions.

Your support will help us continue to operate every day of the week, offer wines by the glass, wine tasting events and educational programs, and the all important tasting table, which has great new selections available for you to taste whenever you're in the store.

Thank you for every consideration.