MUNSTER - Liquor stores will be closed this year on a day that is traditionally one of their busiest - New Year's Eve - because the holiday falls on a Sunday.
Indiana prohibits all takeout liquor sales on Sundays. This year both Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve fall on Sundays, and liquor stores must also be closed for the Monday holidays of Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
Paul Lukso, of Munster Liquors, said Christmas Eve is a big day for sales, but that New Year's Eve is the busiest day of the year.
"I've got two stores in Illinois, and we never close," he said. "Here, we've got to close Sunday plus Monday. You'd think they'd give you one of the days."
John Livengood, president and chief executive officer of the Indiana Association of Beverage Retailers, said most members of his group generally favor the rule banning Sunday liquor sales.
"This is just one of the unintended consequences of that decision," he said. "No one thought restricting Sunday sales would include New Year's Eve."
The legislature could have granted an exemption to allow sales on Sunday for New Year's Eve had the issue been brought up, said Rep. Robert Kuzman, D-Crown Point.
"Someone should have considered it and asked us for an exception, and I think something like that would have passed," he said.
Instead, liquor stores will be closed, and people hosting holiday parties will have to plan ahead. Lukso said he will put up signs and remind customers about the closings but predicted people wouldn't remember.
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