Sunday morning liquor sales legal in Mount Pleasant, not particularly popular

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It may be legal to sell liquor between the hours of 7 a.m. and noon on Sunday mornings, but many local businesses are not itching to get their Sunday-morning drink on.

The sale of alcohol was previously prohibited during the wee hours of Sunday but a permit can now be acquired to dodge the prohibition.

The permits cost an extra $160 a year for business owners.

Communities have the option to opt out of the law and continue to prohibit the sale of alcohol on Sunday mornings.

Mount Pleasant City Manager Kathie Grinzinger said the City Commission does not plan on prohibiting the sales.

“There is every indication that the commission is not interested in taking special steps to make Sunday morning sales illegal in the community,” she said. “They would just rather not get involved and let the new law stand as is.”

Dave Devine, owner of The Store, 218 S. Mission St., said he doesn’t expect many party stores to purchase a license to sell during those hours.

“Sundays are already slow for stores like us in Mount Pleasant because college kids are usually recovering from the rest of the weekend,” he said. “There’s just no value out of it.”

Divine said it is understandable for grocery stores to get the permits.

He said it would be convenient for people to purchase alcohol while they are grocery shopping Sunday mornings.

“It would make sense for party stores to sell if we lived along the lake or in a touristy area,” Divine said. “I would think many stores up north will purchase the permits for that reason.”

Andy Senni, who works at The Mission Store, 1022 S. Mission St., said because there isn’t a huge demand in the community to buy alcohol that early they don’t plan on getting a permit.

He said it would most likely cost more to pay staff working those hours than the profit they would receive from sales.

“We open at noon already on Sunday and that seems early enough,” Senni said. “I just don’t think there would be any value to it.”