And while you can get a mixed drink in a restaurant on Sundays here, you can’t get it until after 1PM. :rolleyes:
I recall the Christmas shopping season of 1975, or possibly 76, with the economy in the dumper, a mall in PA decided to stay open on Sunday and flout the Blue Laws. The merchants were afraid they would go under if there weren’t more shopping days available. With most other malls and stores closed, it seemed to work out for them. By that time there was growing discontent with the laws which had exceptions for newsstands and pharmacies. Many stores had begun to sell newspapers to get around the laws.
Here in Rhode Island you still can’t sell cars on Sunday. Only recently were liquor sales on Sunday allowed. In both cases, the store owners provided the most objections. They don’t think being open on Sunday will increase their gross sales, but will increase their fixed costs. They wouldn’t have to be open, but they know that whatever business there is on a Sunday will go to someone else who is open. They fail to take into account that cars can be purchased in the adjoining states on Sunday, which may be closer to the Rhode Island purchaser than the in-state outlet.
Alot of Blue Laws contain loopholes allowing Sunday sales if the establishment closed on Saturdays. I’ve worked alot of retail and one of 1st things checked on an application is what days the applicant can work. If the both weekend days aren’t listed that application goes straight in the trash, no exceptions. Ditto for anybody said they wouldn’t work on a major holiday if the store was open.
Northeastern PA the common sign on most businesses outside the cities was “Closed Sunday - Knock Around Back”. Hardware, books, - pretty much all the different businesses. And that is pretty much how we did it. Even the places where the owner didn’t live on site there were usually people there doing stock, cleaning or whatever. If you had a real need and they had the product, they would let you in and make the sale dating everything for the next day. Bars and some beer outlets (and at least one state store I know of) around those parts still work that way - they don’t advertise it.
Yeah, my grandparents owned a general store and for the longest time lived above it. Even later they lived withing walking distance. Granny really loved it when it was the local minister (or his wife) that needed to buy something. 
It actually is in a few places around here. There are no blue laws, but many locally owned places close on Sunday because they can’t justify the expense. Even the franchises that have to be open tend to have the minimum number of people.
That is, of course, only before and during church. Afterwards, places like restaurants have to be overstaffed.
My wife would always tell the tale of Louisiana where the blue laws were such that you could buy alcohol on Sundays, but nothing related to ‘working’ such as power tools and building materials.
Here in Massachusetts, the Blue Laws prohibited a camera store to be open on Sundays (it might have been a local ordinance). So the camera store had a pharmacy counter and stocked OTC medicines as well, and operated as a “Drug store” that just happened to sell a LOT of camera equipment. On Sundays, too.
After the laws got changed, they took out the phaermacy and the drugs, and now operate openly as a camera-only store. The digital revolution hasn’t hurt them – somebody still has to sell digital cameras, lighting equipment, albums and frames, and books on the subject.
It is true for certain towns in Bergen County, but not the whole county; i.e. the Borders in Fort Lee is open on Sunday. The most notorious blue laws are for shopping mall capital Paramus, where very few stores are open on Sundays–Annie-Xmas, Bergen County resident since 1982.
Here is sinful New York City, you can’t buy alcohol in a restaurant or bar before noon on Sunday. Also, liquor stores are closed on Sundays, although you can buy beer in normal grocery stores or bodegas.
That’s not true; liquor stores have been allowed to open on Sundays for several years now, although they’re required to be closed another day of the week if they open (most don’t).
PDF: List of Liquor Stores in New York City With Sunday Hours
Interesting link; unfortunately none of those stores are in my neighborhood.
You said liquor stores in New York City weren’t allowed to open on Sundays and they are. The fact that there may be no liquor that you know of in your neighborhood that are open on Sunday has nothing to do with the law not allowing it.
Yeah, Tennessee allows no liquor sales on Sunday, but you can by beer at a grocery store. After 10. It used to be noon, but they changed it for Titans games, which usually have a noon start.
Growing up in Lexington, KY, full Sunday blue laws were in affect until the early 80’s. Everything was closed.
Growing up in New York in the 70’s, the only memory I had of Blue Laws was that the shopping malls were closed on Sunday. That was where Dad would take us kids for their first driving lesson. No cars in a huge parking lot, and the roads running through the mall area. Looking back, I’d have to assume more stores were closed, I just don’t remember it.
Similar to Blue Laws was the situation with access to bank funds over the holidays. If Dad didn’t make it to the bank Friday before 3pm, he’d have have to get a friend, usually at a neighborhood bar, to cash a check for him; coincidentally, this gave him the weekend to cover the check if necessary.
Speaking of bars, they only were licensed to sell for on-premises consumption; I believe that’s still the case. On a Saturday night, if Dad hadn’t gotten beer to last him through the weekend, he’d talk to the bartender, who would produce a six pack, already bagged, from behind the bar.
I spent more than a little time in bars growing up … good times, good times …
I live close to a liquor store that was one of the chief movers and shakers in getting NYS to repeal the Blue Laws. They had a humongo sign over their door for months afterwards proclaiming their victory.
Blue Laws are so stupid. Yay for the Christians - what about the rest of us poor sods? Guess we’re supposed to be in church, too. 
In Eau Claire, Wisconsin, the mall and all like shopping outlets were closed on Sundays as late as the mid-1980s. I don’t remember the date that changed, but it had to be '86 or '87, possibly later.
I thought they’d changed the rules here in Minneapolis - I thought we could now by 3.2 beer all day Sunday, if we wanted. But no hard liquor or wine! The liquor stores are closed, but you can buy the near-beer the grocery stores sell. I think. I could be misremembering.
Which is why I said “interesting link.” Because it was interesting and useful information to me.