Sunday Liquor Sales Now Legal in Connecticut

On Thursday, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed legislation that allows liquor permittees to sell alcohol from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. The law also gives stores the option of selling on holidays like Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day, as well as on Mondays following a Christmas or New Year's Day holiday that falls on a Sunday. 

Malloy said that the bill moves “in the direction of making Connecticut competitive for this industry.”

“I'm sure what will be said is that this is about Sundays, but it's more than that. It is literally about our ability to compete with states that have been taking money away from us on an ongoing basis. When the product is less expensive and more convenient to purchase in surrounding states, you lose $570 million worth of sales.”

Malloy said he wants to capitalize on weekend business that is lost to stores located across the borders where alcohol sales are permitted on Sundays and other holidays.

Malloy signed the bill into law at the town hall of the border town of Enfield. 

But, will the new law really affect liquor sales in the towns like Haddam and East Haddam that are not “border towns?”

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Local business owner, Matthew Carroll isn’t convinced that their location in the East Haddam Village area will be greatly impacted by the change in the state’s “Blue Laws.”

“We’ll see how it goes,” he said, “I’m not convinced the new laws will really help everyone.”

Carroll thinks that towns with sports bars, for example, may be negatively impacted by the change in the state’s laws.

“People who used to go to a sports bar for a drink while they watch the Sunday game may now just grab a 12-pack and watch the game at home instead,” he said.

Carroll, along with his wife Tracy, own and operate Swing Bridge Wine & Spirits in East Haddam. Veterans of the restaurant business, the Carrolls are used to being open 7-days a week and plan to be open this Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.