On March 1, 2016, Shelby County, Alabama residents voted in favor of an amendment to legalize the sale of alcohol on Sundays (Ala. Const. Act 2015-43). Where Sunday sales were previously banned in Shelby County, the new amendment allows appropriately licensed retailers to sell alcohol beginning at noon.
The potential impact of the amendment is noteworthy. Earlier this year, an economic impact study commissioned by the Greater Shelby County Chamber of Commerce suggested the amendment’s approval could generate approximately $10.9 million in total output (annually), $2.1 million in earnings, and 171 jobs.[1]
Prior to the amendment’s approval, there were two types of alcohol retailers in Shelby County as it related to Sunday sales: those who could not under any circumstances (the majority), and select business who could under special circumstances.
The latter involves a subset of Shelby County businesses who were legislatively “grandfathered in” for Sunday sales. The catch was they were required to maintain two separate alcohol licenses in order to do so.[2] The first was an appropriate alcohol license for the particular type of business that would govern the sale of alcohol from Monday through Saturday. The second was a club retail license that specifically governed how these businesses would operate and sell alcohol on Sundays.
Dual licensing creates unnecessary cost and compliance measures for these businesses. This includes dual fees, separate record keeping between the licenses, and compliance with the membership requirements of maintaining a club license (e.g., customers on Sundays have to fill out membership applications because a club license requires it). Dual licensing also has an impact on employees of these businesses. For instance, under certain circumstances, a restaurant retail license allows 19 and 20 year olds to serve alcohol as waiters and waitresses; a club license does not. As a result, restaurants that could otherwise utilize 19 and 20 year olds to serve alcohol would have to create different work schedules and/or methods of serving alcohol specifically for Sundays.
As a result, the passage of the Sunday sales amendment should allow these dual-licensed businesses to drop their club license, reduce unnecessary costs and compliance, and overall simplify the process for the legal sale alcohol in Shelby County. On a broader level, the amendment allows the majority of retail licensees who were otherwise prohibited from Sunday sales to join in as well. This includes on-premise retail licensees (e.g., bars and restaurants) as well as off-premise retail licensees (e.g., grocery and convenience stores). Overall, the amendment not only places all retail alcohol licensees on more equal footing, but it will hopefully allow Shelby County to reap the economic benefits that have been projected.
[1] The impact study can be found at http://shelbychamber.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/2016-Economic-Impact-Study-on-Sunday-Liquor-Sales.pdf
[2] Having dual licenses likewise required special legislation because ordinarily an entity may only maintain one type of alcohol license.