New state liquor laws stand to take effect July 1 - Thehour.com
However, a few small tweaks to Connecticut's liquor laws, which was approved along with the budget, has sparked a debate of its own among those in the state's liquor industry. The first law passed was the expansion of liquor store hours. Stores will be able to stay open from 8 a. m. to 10 p. m. Monday through Saturday, along with adding an additional hour of operation on Sundays. On top of this, the legislature also expanded the amount of liquor licenses one person can own from three to four starting July 1, 2015, and from four to five starting July 1, 2016. One local liquor store owner, Sjur Soleng of Ninety 9 Bottles in... "I've already spoken to liquor stores and nobody is going to increase their hours," Soleng said. Connecticut is one of over a dozen states with a system that controls prices at the wholesale level and "bottle min" is a part of that system, which Soleng says helps the little guys. "The bottle min helps, but when you drive out everybody, then there is only one game in town and you don't know what's expensive anymore," Soleng said. Edward Cooper, VP of Public Affairs and Community Relations for Total Wine & More, said they support the legislation wholeheartedly and thinks the big-box stores and mom-and-pop shops can co-exist together. Look at grocery stores and convenience stores. Source: www.thehour.com
