LAWTON – The sign on the front door of Bootlegger’s Liquor in Lawton tells customers that the store is closed on Sundays. But that could change if Comanche County voters authorize retail liquor stores to sell alcohol seven days a week.
When voters go to the polls Nov. 5, they will decide whether liquor stores may be open for business on Sundays. If the measure passes, liquor store owners in Lawton and across Comanche County would decide whether they want to be open every day of the week.
Allowing Sunday sales would make it easier for locally owned liquor stores to compete with bigger merchants like Walmart, said David McCall, founder of the Bootlegger’s store in Lawton.
“If they will vote this in, it gives us one more day of sales to hold back the corporations,” he said in an Oct. 24 interview. “And that’s the big part of this.” Sales tax revenue In July, the Board of Comanche County Commissioners decided to put the issue of Sunday alcohol sales on the Nov. 5 ballot for voters to consider.
Then-Commissioner Trent Logan, who introduced the proposal, said at the time that allowing liquor stores to do business on Sundays would generate more revenue for the county’s coffers.
“My personal perspective, after talking with multiple constituents on my own time, is that it’s no longer about we have conservative or liberal ideology on alcohol sales,” Logan said in a July 8 interview. “It’s about the fact that we need to create revenue in Comanche County, with 130,000-plus people and growing.”
A 2017 state law allows counties to decide whether they want to authorize Sunday alcohol sales. So far, 13 of Oklahoma’s 77 counties allow Sunday sales, while five do not, according to the Oklahoma Beer Alliance.
If a county allows Sunday sales, liquor stores in that county may do business from noon to midnight on Sundays.
Mike O’Malley, owner of Cache Road Liquor and Wine in Lawton, said giving liquor stores the option of selling their merchandise on Sundays would give local retailers an edge over bigger stores like Walmart.
“The big box stores – they can sell high-point beer and wine on Sundays, and we can’t,” O’Malley said. “So this kind of levels the playing field.”
Oklahoma law allows grocery stores, such as Walmart, and convenience stores to sell beer and wine from 6 a.m. until 2 a.m. seven days a week.