Decatur Sunday Sales Go Into Effect November 27th
Decatur Metro | November 22, 2011Just in case I was a bit too vague in my post about the sidewalk smoking ban, I wanted to be crystal clear that along with a bunch of other alcohol ordinance provisions, the Decatur City Commission passed the Sunday alcohol sales ordinance last night.
That means that starting this coming Sunday, November 27th, you may have the option of purchasing alcohol on Sunday at Ale Yeah!, Sherlocks, Oakhurst Market, Kroger and the four convenience stores around the city that sell alcohol.
But don’t go to Publix on North Decatur or the Decatur Package Store (sorta) across the street. Those are both outside the city limits and DeKalb doesn’t plan to take up any Sunday Sales issues until next year.
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Where’s the closest place we can procure the hard stuff on a Sunday?
Don’t think anywhere is close at the moment. Unless you find yourself out in Snellville a lot.
Probably need to wait for Atlanta’s Jan. 1st start date before we have any liquor stores that could be considered close to Decatur.
Some of the beers on tap @ The Beer Growler exceed 10% ABV. Not as hard as 80 proof liquor, but easy to get drunk on a 64 oz. growler if you must. Heck, even a 32 oz. “small growler” filled with 10% would give you a nice buzz.
I’m in the minority here (and probably always will be), but I don’t understand why people couldn’t buy their alcohol on one of the other 6 days of the week.
Agreed, but it can be inconvenient if you can only do your shopping on weekends [which I mostly do; on a bike, it's safest to avoid very busy roads on weekdays] and something comes up and you can’t make it to the store on Saturday.
So there I am, sunday, trying to make some pasta sauce and I can’t add a dash of red wine (to myself OR the sauce). It’s tragic, is what it is.
It’s just so random. Like saying you can’t buy cheese on Sundays. WHAT? Exactly.
I don’t understand why you can’t buy your pasta on the other 6 days of the week Cat.
If you saw Bulldog’s comment on another post – it said that they supported all businesses being closed on Sunday in order to preserve Sunday as a day of “family.” Weird huh?
Fortunately, Bulldog is in the vast minority, since 90% of Decatur voted to allow Sunday sales.
What if my “family day” is Saturday or Tuesday? Why Sunday?
Marty – Thanks for putting words in my mouth. I didn’t say that government should shut everything down. I said I liked small towns where everything shuts down.
Then you should have supported the Sunday Sales law. This way it gives everybody the option of being open or not being open on Sunday. Its called freedom.
I couldn’t understand why people couldn’t buy their alcohol seven days a week.
People can buy alcohol on the other 6 days of the week. And now on the 7th.
For me it is the fact that some things come up spur of the moment. Most of the time I am not sure what I will be doing on Sunday – what I will be fixing for dinner – conversely what type of wine I will be wanting to drink cause that depends on what I am cooking. It is just nice to know that whatever comes up on Sunday, if I need to, I can go out and get a proper bottle of wine. If I drink more than expected on Saturday, I can go out on Sunday and pick up some more – whatever! The people who don’t really care about this law seem to be either the type who rarely drink or who can afford to buy large quantities at a time and store it so it does not become an issue. Oh, and of course there is the 3rd type of person who wants to bring religion into the situation – the reason we haven’t been able to buy on Sunday since before Prohibition!
Bulldog: If it’s any consolation I think the guys at Ale Yeah! may agree with you. Adding a shift for Sunday when there’s no net increase in business is hard on any retailer.
But the point is they don’t HAVE to open on Sundays. I don’t share his religious beliefs, but I admire Chick-fi-li’s founder for putting his beliefs into practice and foregoing the extra revenues the company could definitely make on Sundays.
I actually think it’s pretty different. As food is something people need every day, Chick-fil-a opening on Sunday would not substantially affect its business on other days – it would only add additional business. They’ve decided their values are more important than this extra business.
A store like Ale Yeah will not increase its overall business by opening on Sunday. It will sell about the same amount, but spread over seven days instead of six. You say that they don’t have to open on Sunday? True, but closing on Sunday will decrease the overall amount of sales that they make. Staying open on Sunday preserves their income level but raises their costs.
Additionally, with specialty/neighborhood stores like this, many people like to frequent the same spot so they can get to know the employees (e.g., I buy the vast majority of my wine at Sherlock’s because I have gotten to know the guys there, and they can help me find what I like). By closing on Sundays, stores like that might drive some of their customers to other places that are open, helping their competitors build a loyal clientele. To provide the best service and remain competitive, stores like Ale Yeah really will need to open on Sunday – regardless of whether they want to.
Granted, the more specialized the store, the less of a problem this is, since there aren’t as many substitutes to which customers could transfer their allegiance.
Don’t get me wrong – I am in support of Sunday sales. But I do believe it puts an additional burden on store owners.
“add additional business” is redundant, isn’t it? Oops.
Seey other post. Overall sales will rise 5 to 7 percent. Not a full extra day’s worth, for sure, but it will increase.
More on that point, I wonder how a retailer’s costs break down, specifically in terms of fixed (lease, advertising, etc.,.) versus variable (labor) costs break down. In a high-rent place like Decatur, it’s likely labor costs are less than 5% to 7% of revenue, thus opening on Sundays likely turns a profit.
This simple math breaks down, of course, for small retail places where labor is not fungible. i.e. – the owner, co-owner, or 3rd employee can’t enjoy a day off and has to come in on Sunday.
Mostly agreed. With 2 kids, it’s not always easy to shop during the week or on Saturdays. So, Sunday is usually the best food shopping day. Tossing a 6-pack in the cart is thus a no-brainer. Win-win for mini-Kroger and me.
There are no package stores in Snellville (I lived there for 18 years. Believe me, I know). You have to go to Lilburn, Lawrenceville, or Loganville to get a bottle of booze.
Lawrenceville has a 1 month window to advertise around this. They better get crackin’!
Looking forward to Sunday, I’m hitting Ale Yeah and Oakhurst Market after the Falcons game.
This past Sunday I went to the Growler in Avondale, and it was hopping! I waited 45 minutes in a line that snaked throughout the place to get a growler of Southern Tier 2XIPA. Never mind that I had a keg in the kegorator and a couple dozen other beers already at home – I wanted to exercise my rights as a free American. And in talking to folks around me in line, most had the same story.
Free at last.
+1 – Ale Yeah Brother!
Kegerator, drool.
You will have to wait until 12:30 PM to purchase, so we are up to 6.5 days a week not 7
I plan on making my first purchase at Sherlock’s—because the state finally got a clue.
heh, I haven’t stopped drinking since last Sunday so I’m getting a kick out of these comments.
People today are always plugged in, always on call, always at the end of a phone. I think what Bulldog is advocating is less noise in our lives. Less 24/7/365 commerce. Stores opening on holidays as if their employees didn’t have families and homes too.
He’s just linking it to Sunday sales.
Thank you, AMB. It’s nice to see someone voicing their opinion without the attack-dog mentality.
And don’t even get me started on stores being open on holidays
. The fact that employees can’t even spend Thanksgiving with their families because people “need” to shop is disturbing.
Advocating less noise/commerce is one thing. Banning sales of one particular good on one specific day of the week is altogether different.
It has less to do with people ‘buying their alcohol on one of the other six days of the week’ and more about individuals purchasing a legal substance whenever they see fit.
Beer-mas! I was expecting this to happen on December 3, but you know the way merchants are with Christmas sales….
No one mentioned the real reason this was allowed to go to referendum in the first place: increases state and local revenue.
In a time when the treasury is bare it makes sense to try and increase sales tax revenue. It remains to be seen how much additonal money will be available to the state and the participating municipalities. I hope it’s a ton.
How does this increase revenue?
I’m with you, Siv. The pie doesn’t get any bigger just because you put more slices in it. Sunday sales was about sucking up to voters at the local level. It won’t do squat for revenue.
I’m not sure that is true. It probably will not have a significant impact, but there will be some. Some people only have time for shopping on Sundays. Maybe they will buy more now at the grocery store. I agree though that this was mainly about responding to voter demand.
All states that have removed a Sunday ban have seen an increase in sales tax revenues. The Georgia Distilled Spirits Council estimated a 5 to 7 percent increase in alcohol sales to to lifting the Sunday ban.
This past Sunday I went to Costco in Dunwoody (Sandy Springs?) and their liquor store was open. I was so excited that I switched my shopping cart to one of those heavy moving carts, rented a truck from Home Depot next door and used the space well. They were also selling wine and beer in the big part of Costco as well, but I didn’t have time to make multiple trips.
When I see Costco mentioned, I can’t help but sigh and think about the coulda-shoulda-woulda been Costco at N DeKalb Mall… And then I wonder if any of those-not-in-my-backyard neighbors regret their efforts when looking at the decrepit and dying mall.
I wish costco could have opened there
One thing i’ll never understand about people-
When they move somewhere, i.e. right beside a mall, then complain that businesses may open in the mall,
or take for instance Road Atlanta, where the track has been there for years, and then when the real estate bubble was getting bigger, people started building subdivisions close to the track, and then start complaining about the noise and try ridiculous tactics to try to get the track to close.
orrrrrrrrrrrrrr
buy a newly built condo right behind a club like Backstreet which at that point was probably around longer than the yuppies buying the condos and then complaining endlessly to the city about the noise from the club.
I just don’t get it.
+1. Same thing happened years ago when East Point boomed and people complained about airplane noise…when they chose to buy near an airport! Is there an acronym for this? Maybe NEPF (nimby ex post facto)?
My favorite are the people who live near Chastain and complain. Seriously? You bought a house by an AMPHITHEATER. It is a very easy word to look up in the dictionary.
Was there a not-in-my-backyard effort for that? I don’t recall it.
Which example are you asking about?
Costco.
Oddly, I was walking around the former Market Square (North DeKalb? For reals? Whose idea was it to change the name?) Monday as I waited for a Subaru recall repair. I hopped over to the Pier 1 and noticed the brick house behind it was under demolition. When I inquired the manager at Pier 1 told me a Zaxby’s is opening up there. Of course, the topic of development came up, and long story short, this guy told me the Costco did not go in because Wal Mart bought the lease to protect its own local interest. He claims he got the story straight from the planning person at Costco.I don’t think it was a neighborhood NIMBY thing but rather a business decision for the mall owners. Obviousy, WM offered them a better deal.
Nelliebelle1197, the mall was called North DeKalb Mall in the 1970s, then the name was changed to Market Square in the 1980s, and then switched back to North DeKalb Mall.
The fight about Costco was not about a big store opening but that the watershed and floodplain were being built on. The neighbors literally downstream feared more flooding.
Yes, I recall flooding being part of the protest grounds- though it also seemed to me the neighborhood groups weren’t interested in hearing any potential remediation efforts/options either. Though I don’t know any of the neighbors and have an admitted bias towards wanting a Costco/revitalized mall.
Where’s Lyrics Only Guy when you need him?
Always drunk on Sunday,
Tryin’ to feel like I’m at home
Smell the gasoline burnin’
Boys out feelin’ nervous and cold
Tell you why cuz I’m jealous…jealous again