If you need to pickup a six-pack of beer, a bottle of wine or a pint of your favorite liquor, all Rocky Hill package stores will be open this Sunday.
Owner Bruce Swanson was stocking his shelves Thursday afternoon in preparation for the Sunday opening.
"We will be open. We have to be open," he said. "We would lose way too much business."
His store will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday after that no longer prohibits liquor stores from being open seven days a week.
The bill allows liquor permittees to sell alcohol from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays, as well as on Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day, and on Mondays following a Christmas or New Year's Day holiday that falls on a Sunday.
The following liquor stores in Rocky Hill will be open on Sunday:
- 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- is expected to be open, but was unclear what its hours of operation would be
- 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Swanson, , said what really hurts is being open on holidays, which would have allowed him two extra days off. Now, he will be working Memorial and Labor day.
At least one new employee had to be hired to help with Sunday sales and there is a probability that more will be. Swanson is hoping that he can "break even" on Sunday with cost of employees and lighting because he does not anticipate any extra sales.
"You have to sell more to make more money," he said. "That means people have to buy more."
Even with the "Blue Laws" in place, package stores had the option of being closed on Saturdays, Swanson said. However, not many were and he said he feels many stores will have to .
"Sundays are an option," he said about the new law. "You really don't have an option."
Swanson, who purchased the store two years and knew that Sunday sales could be coming reality, said if he was customer who had Sundays free to shop, he would want all stores open.
"I would shop Sundays," he said. "If I didn't own this store."
