Minutes before noon on Sunday, Service Liquors’ parking lot on Lake Street included two pickups, a car and a taxi with people waiting to make a historic purchase.
There was a line, too, at Handy Spot Liquor on Center Street in Warsaw, where the clerk, Mike Swindle, said a woman ran in, whooped it up about the new ability to buy carryout alcohol on Sundays in Indiana, then headed off without making a purchase.
And a customer at Lassus Handy Dandy at Dubois Drive and Parker Street was ready to buy a single 24-ounce tall boy at 11:40 a.m. He had to wait, a clerk said.
Those were part of the brisk early sales Sunday that trumpeted in a new era as Indiana became the final state to allow carryout alcohol sales on Sundays.
That came just days after Gov. Eric Holcomb signed legislation allowing Sunday carryout between noon and 8 p.m. by grocers, convenience stores and liquor stores.
After 100 years in which Sunday sales had been prohibited, the change was met with a sense of urgency for lawmakers and some drinkers.
Instead of using the customary July 1 start date for the new law, legislators made it possible to invoke the change as fast as possible – a sign of how quickly they wanted to see the ban end after resisting the policy change for decades.
Some consumers were quick to take advantage, and several said they were buying just because they could.
That was the case for Scott Cripe, who was among the first to visit Service Liquor in downtown Warsaw.
Cripe bought a single Miller Light tall boy, then snapped a selfie and emailed it to a buddy in Washington state who had found the Indiana tradition infuriating.
“I think it’s a long time coming,” said Cripe, who said he had previously lived in Wisconsin and Minnesota, where alcohol laws are more liberal.
He blamed the previous ban on “religious crazies.”
“Nobody drinks more because the liquor store is open on Sunday,” he said.
Nathan White, a clerk at the store, said he had about 20 customers in about the first half hour of business.
“It’s a novelty,” White said.
Tom Hooper, who said he lived much of his life on the west coast and has motorcycled around much of the country, said he “flipped out” the first time he learned he could not buy beer on Sundays in Indiana.
He was buying a bottle of Fireball at Handy Spot Liquor store early Sunday afternoon.
“It’s asinine to be able to go to a bar and drink on Sundays … when you can’t go to the store, grab a little bottle, go home and watch a movie and be safe,” Hooper said.
“It’s about time they did it,” Hooper said. “It makes sense.”
Becky Davis, a clerk at the Lassus Handy Dandy, said they sold beer to five people within the first few minutes.
The store has a large selection of beer, and Davis said she thinks Sunday sales will be good for business.
She also sees other benefits statewide.
“They’ll sell more beer, they make more in taxes and more fines on DUIs,” she said.
Despite the change in law, Indiana retains a conservative outlook on Sunday sales.
According to a report by ABCnews.com, Indiana remains the only state that prohibits the sale of cold beer in convenience stores.
State lawmakers voted against changing that provision as a way to protect small business owners who operate liquor stores, according to the report.
