While a sign at
one local store read, "YES! The liquor store and party shop will be
OPEN July 4th," many local liquor stores are opting to remain
closed, saying they didn't have enough notice they could be open
today.
"We are not going to open," said McDaniel's Liquor Store owner
Paul McDaniel. "I've been in this business 30 years, and this is the
first time this has ever happened, and I don't know why it's
happened now."
For decades, governors have made the Independence Day holiday a
dry day by forcing 4,000 liquor stores across the state to shut
down. But Gov. Mark Sanford decided to break with tradition,
allowing liquor stores to open for business today.
State law gives governors power "in the interest of law and order
or public morals and decorum" to close liquor stores. They routinely
use it on Christ-mas Day, Thanksgiving, New Year's Day and July
Fourth, officials and liquor store owners said.
Puzzled about the change
Managers and owners of several area liquor stores, including
Frugal MacDoogal, a large beverage warehouse located near the North
Carolina border, were puzzled, like McDaniel, about the change.
Frugal MacDoogal will be closed today, a store manager said.
"We had already planned to close, and I don't think it's fair to
ask people to come in to work," said Aunt Betsy's Coun-try Store
owner Larry Facelli. "People just need to plan better and get their
liquor early if they plan to drink on the Fourth."
Economics decision
Winthrop University history professor Jason Silverman said at a
time when "every penny counts," Sanford's decision to relax the law
has more to do with economics than morality.
"The governor relaxing the law now has nothing to do with him
becoming more liberal," Silverman said. "It has more to do with
economics. Business and commerce have taken a front seat to theology
and tradition."
Some local liquor stores are taking advantage of Sanford's
decision, however, and will open today, including Anderson Liquor
Store on South Wilson Street and Brand Spirits on Cherry Road.
"There are two possibilities here," said Brand Spirits store
clerk Mike Hodgins. "Either people will take advantage of the
opportunity, or else no one will know we're open because they've
been used to us being closed. We might end up staring at the
wall."
But the phone rang constantly at Nuckleheads on Cherry Road on
Thursday. People were calling to ask if it was true the liquor store
was going to be open today, said Mita Patel, who co-owns the store
with husband Mike.
"I didn't even know what an ABC store was until I moved to South
Carolina," Patel said. "When I lived in other states like California
and Reno, (Nevada) you could buy liquor in grocery stores."
Paul Brooks, a customer at Nuckleheads, purchased his liquor
early because he expected all liquor stores to be closed today, he
said.
"From past experience, we've lost a lot of sales because we
couldn't sell liquor on July 4," Patel said. "We normally sell just
beer, but this year we will sell beer, liquor and lottery
tickets."
Contact Denyse Clark at 329-4069 or mailto:dclark@heraldonline.com
The Associated Press contributed to this
report.
