Vinings Package Stores Plan to Open on Sundays

, voters approved Sunday sales in Cobb County . Of unincorporated Cobb County voters nearly 70 percent voted in favor of the measure that would allow package sales of alcohol after 12:30 p.m. on Sundays. It also passed in Marietta, Powder Springs and Austell. Not much will change for some county businesses like supermarkets and convenience stores that are already open on Sunday. However, some locally owned package stores in the county have experienced an impact since Sunday sales were permitted in some neighboring municipalities in January.

Hema Nayee works at , a package store her husband owns at the intersection of Atlanta Road and Paces Ferry Road. She said that many of her customers assume the shop is open on Sunday because it is so near Smyrna city limits. Not being able to stay open on Sunday has had a negative impact on business.

“Our Saturday sales have really gone down because people can buy on Sunday now. And our Monday sales have really dropped off because people have leftovers from Sundays. It has affected us definitely.”

Kris McTaggart, owner of in Vinings, said that the referendum’s passage in neighboring cities like Smyrna and Sandy Springs has caused some confusion for her customers.

“I’ve been here on a Sunday doing paperwork and I can’t tell you how many times people have come to the door,” she said.

Package store owners have speculated that they won’t actually see much of an increase in sales overall and may in fact see an increase in their overhead costs associated with keeping their stores open an extra day. Nayee said that although she and her husband will have to pay employees for the extra day of work, they have no choice but to stay open on Sunday.

“We’re giving up a day of rest, but we’ll work around it,” she said. “We’re losing clientele because of it. They’re playing our hand. It won’t make a large difference to us. It’s just going to spread the sales over seven days. “

McTaggart echoed Nayee’s concern, but thinks her business's proximity to several Vinings apartment complexes will help boost her sales in the summer.

“For most of the year we’re just expecting it’s going to increase overhead and spread six days of sales out over seven days,” she said. “But I think in the summer, because we’re surrounded by apartments and there are so many pools and young people at pools, I think we’ll do OK on Sundays in the summers. I’ve actually asked a couple of my customers if they’ve run out of beer in the past on a Sunday afternoon and it was a resounding yes. So I think I’ll do well in the summer and during football season.”

Retailers in unincorporated Cobb County can sell alcohol on Sundays beginning June 3.