Approval of Sunday liquor sales stirs up another debate

DENVER - Gov. Bill Ritter's signing of a law Monday to permit Sunday liquor sales may signal a beginning rather than an end to the battle over suds on the Sabbath.

The head of the Colorado Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association said later in the day that if the Legislature will not allow Sunday full-strength beer sales at convenience and grocery stores, his group may push a November ballot initiative to do so.

The group said it supports the idea of Sunday sales but believes that by being limited to selling weaker beer, they will be run out of the market.

Before the Democratic governor's signature ignited another battle, however, it ended a decades-long fight to do away with a 75-year-old Prohibition-era law banning liquor stores from being open on Sunday.

Liquor-store owners had fought changes in past years, citing the increased cost of doing business an extra day, but they rallied behind Senate Bill 82 this year as a way to generate extra income on a day that is becoming more popular for shopping.

"It really is a historic event," said Scott Robinson, owner of Wilbur's Total Beverage in Fort Collins. "I think that the consumer won here. And this is an opportunity for families who are time-starved to shop when it's more convenient to them."

The measure, sponsored by Denver Democratic Sen. Jennifer Veiga, takes effect on July 1. Robinson predicted most liquor stores in the state will operate for shorter hours on Sundays than the rest of the week.

The General Assembly considered a bill earlier this year that would have allowed grocery and convenience stores to sell wine and full-strength beer but limited the space devoted to it and the number of stores owned by the same chain that could get such licenses. A Senate committee killed it after hearing testimony about damage it could do to independently owned liquor stores.

Mark Larson, executive director of the convenience store association, said his group worked to convince Ritter of the inequity of allowing full-strength sales at only one type of establishment. Ritter said Monday he believed there was "great public sentiment" in favor of being able to buy alcoholic beverages on Sundays.

Larson said convenience stores, which now sell about 80 percent of their beer on Sundays, would lose a major chunk of revenue without it.

"We agree with the bill. We agree with consumer convenience," Larson said. "We have a problem with them changing one aspect of the law and ignoring the other, giving a monopoly to the liquor stores."

CONTACT THE WRITER: (303) 837-0613 or ed.sealover@gazette.com