LIQUOR LAWS Stores are ready for Sunday sales

Gov. Taft signed a bill in June that changed the liquor sales ban.
LAKEWOOD, Ohio (AP) -- The brothers who own Simone's Beverage & amp; Deli in this Cleveland suburb are able to do something they had not been able to before Sunday -- sell bottles of liquor to carryout customers.
"It's definitely going to be good for our business," said Marc Zkiab, who owns the store with his brother, Simon.
Gov. Bob Taft signed a bill on June 17 that changed Ohio's more than 70-year ban on Sunday liquor sales. The change went into effect on Sunday.
Under the new law, some state liquor stores can sell liquor after 1 p.m. Sundays, but only if precinct residents already have voted to allow bars or restaurants to sell it.
Matt Mullins, spokesman for the Ohio Division of Liquor Control, said 121 contract state stores of 419 qualify to begin Sunday sales, but doing so was optional at each location. Mullins did not know how many were selling on Sunday.
First sales
Mullins said the first Sunday sales in an Ohio state contract agency store actually started about five months ago at Huffman's Tremont Market in Upper Arlington, a Columbus suburb. That authorization came from a local option question March 2 that passed. A 1999 change in state law allowed for a Sunday sale of liquor at a state store to be put on a precinct ballot.
Zkiab expected his store's liquor sales on Sundays to be strong in the fall, because most Cleveland Browns games are on Sundays and his customers like to have football parties.
"Our customers are pretty much pleased with it, but it's going to take a while to get used to it. We have signs up now about the Sunday sales," he said. "In the past we would always get comments from customers that the liquor laws seemed a little bit outdated."
Boost in business
Zkiab said Sunday afternoon that there was a noticeable boost in overall business, which he attributed to the ability to sell liquor.
"We've had a real big turnout," he said, pausing between ringing up customers. "We saw a lot of new faces today."
Zkiab said 400 square feet in the store is dedicated to his liquor supply. He said flavored vodka is a big seller now.
The store sells wholesale as a distributor to some restaurants, but the new law allows only retail sales to carryout customers, he said.
The Ohio chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving took a back seat on the issue of Sunday sales at state stores.
"If we opposed that, then we would oppose other days' liquor sales. We do not believe in drinking and driving, but at the same time we are not prohibitionists. These stores are in areas that already are selling. It's a fine line, I admit," said MADD spokesman Doug Scoles.
He said MADD seeks to "draw the line at underage drinking. We do everything we can to stop sale of liquor to people under 21."