HARTFORD, Conn. — The Connecticut Package Stores Association, which fiercely opposed Gov. Dannel Malloy’s proposal to permit beer, wine and liquor sales on the busiest shopping day of the week, has done an about-face.
The CPSA is offering to drop its opposition if parts of the comprehensive bill are blocked, according to reports, including those that would lift minimum pricing rules that prevent chains from undercutting smaller competitors, and allow supermarket operators to obtain up to nine liquor licenses for use in a separate shop.
Connecticut is one of two states barring Sunday sales of alcohol. Supermarkets can only sell beer the rest of the week.
The group is also proposing that convenience stores and gas stations be barred from selling beer; that a proposed closing time of 10 p.m. seven days a week be restricted to three nights; and that Sunday hours be limited from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
In a letter to lawmakers Monday, Gov. Malloy outlined changes that might make the original bill more acceptable to the CPSA, whose powerful lobby helped defeat past attempts to allow Sunday sale. They include cutting the proposed limit of nine liquor licenses to six, according to reports.