Oklahoma's Blue Laws (Oklahoma City, Stillwater, Howe: sales, home, to buy)

[Zachj7]

Do you agree with limiting alcohol sales to wine and spirit stores except for beer in our state?

I ask this because it would seem that many higher end stores like Costco, Trader Joes, and until recently Whole Foods would NOT come to Oklahoma because of these laws. Or that is what people perceived the reason to be.

So my question to Oklahomans on this board is do you think we should progress and change these laws like many states have already done, or keep our strict blue laws

Also does anybody know of any news on when these archaic laws will be repealed, changed, or gotten rid of?

EDIT: Oh if a MOD wants to move this to the Oklahoma forum, great. I didn't realize I was in the OKC forum. Thanks

Thanks

[StillwaterTownie]

Liquor store owners have a lot more influence over what alcohol should be sold in grocery stores than stores from the outside, like Costco. So some blue laws are difficult to overcome, if a party fears losing money over it. Otherwise, blue laws remain in place, because it's a local cultural tradition well respected, like how in some counties any sales of alcohol stronger than 3.2% beer on Sunday is banned. As for me, I think blue laws are left over from a more backward time and should be banned.

[debzkidz]

I think the liquor laws in this state are ridiculous. The idea of not being able to pick up a bottle of wine at the grocery store is so backward. Or the idea of not being able to buy cold beer, snacks, mixers etc at a liquor is unreal.

Other places I've lived, I would occasionally pick up a bottle of wine while grocery shopping. I enjoy a glass or two in the evening or with dinner. However, since being here I rarely enjoy any because I'm not going to make a special trip to a special store just for a bottle of wine.

I really miss the big liquor/gourmet food stores.

[dvxhd]

I saw this on the news a couple nights ago:
New Survey Ranks Oklahoma City No.4 In Negative Reactions - News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports |

The anchors and people they interviewed seemed surprised, and I don't know if that was genuine or for public appeal. If it was genuine, I think they have a problem seeing what needs fixing. But I think if Oklahoma seriously wants to change its image, little things like this need to go. Before I moved here, I used to be able to go grocery shopping and stop by the liquor section if I wanted anything. A huge benefit to having a liquor section in a grocery store (in addition to convenience) was that alcohol was subject to specials, discounts and sales, just as any other product in the store could be. There were some high-end grocers that sold more exclusive wines, beers and spirits, as well as chains that I think are unlikely to expand in Oklahoma City with these laws in place (namely Cost Plus World Market, BevMo and Total Wine.)

Getting rid of these laws would only help to attract variety.

Anyway, to answer your question regarding any changes I found the following:
Alcohol law changes put on hold in Oklahoma Legislature | NewsOK.com

I also checked here and typed in SB-658, and it appears you can track information/progress on that stagnated bill:
Oklahoma Legislature - Home Page

[StillwaterTownie]

High negative opinions from outsiders of Oklahoma City should help work in keeping population growth from getting out of hand.

I find it being illegal to buy a car in Oklahoma on Sunday to be stupid, but I guess it's yet another odd time honored Oklahoma cultural tradition that citizens are too reluctant to let go.

[debzkidz]

Originally Posted by StillwaterTownie

High negative opinions from outsiders of Oklahoma City should help work in keeping population growth from getting out of hand.

I find it being illegal to buy a car in Oklahoma on Sunday to be stupid, but I guess it's yet another time honored Oklahoma cultural tradition that citizens are too reluctant to let go.

Unless this has changed in the last few years Texas also still observes their blue law in regards to cars sales.

[StillwaterTownie]

Originally Posted by debzkidz

[/b] Unless this has changed in the last few years Texas also still observes their blue law in regards to cars sales.

Wow, people in the 2nd most highly populated state in the union still want to live with that.

[debzkidz]

Yes, car dealers can be open on Sunday only if they are closed on Saturday. Or at least it was still like that when we moved here 5 years ago.

You can buy beer and wine in grocery stores on Sunday, but liquor stores are close at something like 9:00 Saturday (not sure of the exact time) and cannot reopen until Monday. Beer and wine sales on Sunday do not start until 12:00pm. Hard liquor is not sold anywhere but liquor stores. Not in grocery stores. But you can at least get real full point beer and wine in grocery stores and you can get cold beer in liquor stores.

[SluggoF16]

Does anyone remember the "liquor by the drink" laws in effect before 1984. Now THAT was ______. (Fill in the blank with any appropriate negative adjective.)

In Louisiana until 1986 supermarkets cordoned off certain areas on Sunday. More blue laws, you could buy fish sticks but not flip flops on a Sunday. Yet there were drive-though daiquiri huts.

Oklahoma has a burgeoning wine culture, and some of the newer wineries are making high-quality wines that can compete favorably with CA, WA and OR. However, the distribution of wine is restricted due to difficult laws and a oligopoly of distributors. This is an interesting time-line of the laws and how they compare with Texas, which has in the Hill Country the second-most visited wine country in the US, behind Napa/Sonoma but ahead of OR's Willamette Valley and NY's Finger Lakes.

[StillwaterTownie]

Originally Posted by SluggoF16

Does anyone remember the "liquor by the drink" laws in effect before 1984. Now THAT was ______. (Fill in the blank with any appropriate negative adjective.)

stupid. Were they actual laws or a just a means to work around the stupid laws? As I recall, to make it legal, you had to be issued a "private" club membership card at the door before you could enter the bar and buy a drink. But it's long gone. There were actually some ridiculous cultural traditions in Oklahoma that the people didn't want to keep trying to live with.