Most liquor stores are owner-operated, and Sunday was owners’ only day off. They also had to pay an increased liquor license fee to open on Sunday.
Liquor store owners in Warner Robins were even more strongly against opening on Sunday. For the first couple of months after sales were allowed, not one liquor store opened on Sunday. However, it wasn’t long before the ranks began to break. Now 11 of the 12 package stores in Warner Robins are open on Sunday. The only holdout is Top Shelf Liquor on South Houston Lake Road.
The city of Warner Robins actually changed its ordinance to accommodate stores that didn’t want to open on Sunday. Originally, after the referendum passed in November, council raised the liquor license fee from $4,500 to $5,000 to account for the extra day of sales.
But when it became clear stores didn’t want to open on Sunday, council changed it, so store owners only had to pay the extra fee if they did open on Sunday. Since that time, owners have come in and paid the extra $500 to open.
Bobby Patel, manager of Rocky Mountain Liquors on Watson Boulevard, reluctantly began opening on Sunday about three months ago. He also said once other stores starting opening, he didn’t feel he had much choice.
Basically, the sales he does have on Sunday now are offset by lower sales on Saturday. “I would close on Sunday now if everybody else did,” he said.