MI: Sunday alcohol sales cause some Michigan stores to move or shutter
By Ed Semmler
March 18, 2019
For just over a year, Indiana has allowed Sunday alcohol sales at retail stores, and there already have been at least a couple of store closings on the Michigan side of the border.
The J&B Party store at 3114 S. 11th St. in Niles is abandoned with little but shelves, boxes and beer posters remaining inside. The sale of the license is pending and will be transferred to a storefront at 4031 Michigan 139 near St. Joseph.
Just over a year ago, a clerk at the store predicted that J&B would be severely hurt when Indiana finally began allowing the Sunday sale of alcoholic beverages. He said that nearly half of the store’s weekly sales came on Sunday.
After years of political wrangling, the legislature took action early last year to repeal its Prohibition-era ban on the Sunday sale of alcohol, and Hoosiers marked the occasion by making alcoholic purchases throughout the state on March 4 last year — some to just mark the occasion on social media.
But the story was considerably different in communities bordering Indiana.
The Sunday sale of alcoholic beverages in Indiana was enough to force John and Sue Wetzel to close their family business — Union Market at 15940 U.S. 12 — after 36 years in business.
A few years earlier, Union Market was hurt by the opening of a nearby Dollar General store, but it was able to recover nicely once it acquired a full liquor license, Wetzel said. The store attracted a lot of customers from Elkhart and Goshen because of its ease of access just up County Road 17 in Elkhart.
“We had our best day ever on New Year’s Eve in 2017 because it fell on a Sunday that year,” said Wetzel. “And then just a short time later, the Indiana legislature announced it was going for Sunday sales again.”
Because of repeated attempts to pass the enabling legislation, Wetzel had an ominous feeling. Pressure had been building in Indiana to allow Sunday sales.
And then it began.
With Sundays producing about 35 percent to 40 percent of the store’s revenues, Wetzel knew that the store’s days were numbered.
“Sunday sales paid the bills,” said the 63-year-old Elkhart resident. “We needed it to stay afloat.”
On Oct. 15 the store finally closed. Equipment was sold and a neighbor in Union decided to purchase the property as well as the liquor license, though the location remains closed.
Wetzel said he and his wife were just planning to run the store a few more years to get to retirement age. He feels fortunate that he was able to land a full-time job at the Martin’s Super Markets location near his home.
Some larger operators have been able to adjust to the change.
Oak Dairy Party Store at 1129 Stateline Road in Niles, for example, installed a large walk-in beer cave and additional coolers to ensure there is an ample supply of cold beer available for residents of Indiana where cold beer sales are allowed only at liquor stores.
Because Sunday alcohol sales in Indiana are allowed only from noon to 8 p.m., the Michigan stores have another advantage by being able to sell earlier in the day and later at night.
The investment at the Oak Dairy location was necessary to give the store an edge with customers, said Bhola Singh, who owns that store and 36 others — often called Mega Liquor — on both sides of the border.
While Sunday sales have made it more difficult for Michigan stores near the border, sales in Indiana have been a wash since the initial surge, Singh said, adding that what’s been gained on Sundays has been lost on Saturdays and Mondays.
Singh’s biggest headache — especially at the beginning — was filling the additional shifts. Vinay Patel, who operates Blarney Stone stores in the area, agreed, and added that he doesn’t even open his location on Hickory Road in South Bend on Sundays because of labor and its proximity to another one of his stores on McKinley Avenue.
Patel said he’s in the process of expanding a few of his locations with larger coolers and other amenities in order to make them more competitive with the large retailers who can sell beer and wine as long as it isn’t chilled. “We’re trying to stand out,” he said.
Wetzel said he considered adding gas pumps or making some other changes to keep his store afloat. But in the end, he didn’t want to take on a bunch of debt as he’s nearing retirement.
“I’ll bet the change hurt a lot of businesses,” he said. “With all of the small border stores in Illinois, Ohio and Kentucky, there had to be a lot of businesses that were hurt.”