North Carolina Takes Historic Step to Allow Distillers to Sell Distilled Spirits Bottles on Sundays

Source: www.distilledspirits.org, September 2021

Measure marks first bottled distilled spirit sale on Sunday in state since Prohibition

  Beginning Oct. 3, adult consumers will be able to purchase distilled spirits on Sundays at distilleries across North Carolina under a historic new law signed by Governor Roy Cooper late last week.

 The legislation, HB 890, will provide much-needed revenue to the state’s distillers as well as increased convenience for Sunday shoppers.

 “Like me, many craft distillers in North Carolina made the decision to close on Sundays because it wasn’t fiscally sound to keep our doors open when we couldn’t sell our product,” said Pete Barger, president of the Distillers Association of North Carolina and CEO of Southern Distilling. “For those that decided to stay open, disappointed consumers were forced to go home empty handed when visiting on Sundays without realizing they were prohibited from buying a bottle on that day. With this new law allowing Sunday sales, we plan to open our doors and welcome in consumers seven days a week. The added revenue will be a huge relief following the harsh economic impacts we continue to endure from the pandemic.”

 North Carolina’s ABC stores are still prohibited from selling distilled spirits on Sundays.

 “Allowing distillers to sell their products seven days a week is a great first step towards modernizing the spirits marketplace in North Carolina,” said David Wojnar, senior vice president and head of state government relations for the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. “Sunday is the second-biggest shopping day of the week, and now, distilleries can get in on the action and share their great products with consumers. We are excited for the growth this will cause for these small businesses and hope to see Sunday sales in package stores in the near future as well.”

 There are only seven states in the United States that do not allow the sale of spirits on Sundays from off-premise retailers: Alabama, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Utah.