A Better Revenue Stream: Booze
Janis Joplin once said, “If you ever need a drink, it’s on Sunday, man.” Councilmember Mike Knapp (D-Germantown) seems to agree, with a new proposal that would open the MoCo Liquor Stores on Sunday. Tired of me bitching about parking meters? Then maybe this can get your revenue on.
According to The Examiner, Knapp says the county could raise an additional $1.5-2 million a year. Sure it’s a drop in the bucket, but every bit counts. Plus, hey – booze on Sunday. Not that I’m saucing it up so much, but there have been several occasions when I get a hankering for a martini on the deck Sunday afternoon and I’m fresh out of Hendrick’s. Of course, the effort has its detractors:
The Rev. Wade Martin, senior pastor at Montgomery United Methodist Church, said Sundays are meant to be days focused on one’s faith and families, not for drinking.
“Alcohol can take us away from the intent of what Sundays are all about,” Wade said.
I understand and appreciate the sentiment, but if you want to focus on one’s faith and family, there’s a simple answer: Don’t go to the liquor store on Sunday. Plus it’s a bit of a narrow-minded statement considering the large Jewish population in the area. I have fallen off my Episcopal roots and subsequent training to stock up on Saturday. This is indeed the answer.
I’m hoping that this may lead to other bans being lifted. Something like, say, beer and wine in the grocery stores? Direct wine shipments to the state of Maryland? I’m keeping my fingers crossed but not holding my breath.
Cheers!
14 comments Digg this14 Comments so far
Leave a reply
I agree, MoCo is ridiculous. I’m Catholic, no problem with liquor stores being open and I highly doubt the Catholic Church does either. Being closed hurts business, as do the restrictions on restaurants selling beer/liquor.
Couldn’t agree more. Liquor stores being forced to close on Sundays is an arcane rule that is only based on religious opinions. God never said ‘thou shalt not patronize the county liquor store on Sunday”. And for non-Christians and many Christians, it’s just another day of the week.
“Sundays can take us away from the intent of what Alcohol is all about”
I fixed this statement…much better now.
And what about internet wine sales to MoCo? Why are we being held hostage by the State’s liquor industry? (That’s a rhetorical question; the answer is bribery in the form of political donations).
I say let my liquor stores open! I agree, the religion should not be used in this case. After all what happened to separation of state and church.
I agree that they should be open. But I disagree on the additional revenue. One way or another, people are getting their alcohol – few people are actually drinking any MORE because the county store opens. Which means it’s only doing 1 of two things…. 1) It’s shifting business away from the rest of the week, which means the county loses money because of the higher overhead of being open the additional day but generating the same total sales. Or 2)It’s stealing existing Sunday business away from non-county-operated stores which are open on Sundays. In which case, yea it helps the county but hurts local business and since I don’t agree with the philosophy that the county should be in charge of selling the stuff in the first place – that’s not cool.
I admit that revenue projections are lofty, at best. But I also don’t think it will take too much beer & wine business from local independently-owned places. I may be atypical, but if I’m buying beer and wine, 9 times out of 10 I still go to Fenwick or Rodman’s in Rockville.
One thing I didn’t take into account was the DLC workforce. I hope they would be on board with the change. Everyone needs (at least) a day off during the week, and my hope is it won’t negatively impact them. They’re a great bunch of folks and always cheerful and helpful.
Paul, I agree with what you said about additional ad revenue. Yes, it will just thin out the sales for the rest of the week and for beer/wine stores. Maybe if half of the county stores are open on Sunday and half of them are open on Saturday?
Better yet, privatize liquor retailers.
Not only is there a large Jewish population in MoCo, there is a large Seventh-day Adventist population, with their world headquarters being in northern Silver Spring. Oh wait, never mind, they can’t drink ANY day of the week.
I would even take noon to 5 p.m to reduce the overhead of opening an extra day. Evaluate after a year or so. Pennsylvania did this a few years back and decided to keep the open Sunday policy. Silver Spring is becomming a real city – we need more modern perspective on a contemporary world. I’m for extending the pay for parking to include Sunday as well – make folks pay for treking to Downtown SS for Booze on Sunday.
Oops, didn’t mean “ad” revenue. I think I was stuttering.
@Jimmy: Maybe too much tripel?
Buy:Acomplia.Lipitor.Aricept.Amoxicillin.Advair.Seroquel.Lasix.Nymphomax.Ventolin.Cozaar.Wellbutrin SR.Lipothin.Benicar.Buspar.SleepWell.Zocor.Prozac.Female Pink Viagra.Zetia.Female Cialis….
Buy:Levitra.Cialis.Propecia.Viagra Soft Tabs.Soma.Cialis Soft Tabs.Maxaman.Cialis Super Active+.VPXL.Viagra Professional.Tramadol.Zithromax.Viagra Super Force.Cialis Professional.Viagra.Viagra Super Active+.Super Active ED Pack….
[...] discussed the possibilities earlier this year, but it appears the selling of liquor in MoCo stores on Sunday will be finalized [...]