Only 3 Avondale Estates Businesses Affected By Sunday Sales Law

The new law allowing Sunday sales of alcohol in retail establishments only affects three businesses in Avondale Estates, and just one of them is certain to do so this Sunday.

will open at 12:30 p.m. and close at 5 p.m., co-owner Denny Young said. "We'll be here and ready to go," he said.

won't open on Sunday, though store manager Andrew Poor didn't rule it out for the future. "We'll see how it goes for a while," he said.

The manager at Rite Aid on Covington Highway didn't want to talk about Sunday sales, saying he had to refer all questions to corporate headquarters, which had not contacted Patch early Friday afternoon.

Other places that seem to be in Avondale -- like the convenience stores on East Colleage Avenue -- actually are in the strip of unincorporated DeKalb County between Avondale and Decatur. The county is not allowing Sunday sales yet.

doesn't sell six packs of beer or bottles of wine. They only sell growlers, 32- and 64-ounce reusable jugs filled with draft beer from a lineup of taps. To mark Sunday sales, the store will offer one and two dollars off to the first 50 customers of the day.

It won't be too much of a party, he said, because customers cannot consume their purchase on the premises. Stores can start selling at 12:30 p.m. and must end at 11:30 p.m. The Beer Growler will close at 5 p.m., Young said.

Avondale and many other Georgia cities have allowed restaurants and bars to sell alcohol on Sunday for years, but state law blocked convenience and grocery stores from doing the same.

On Nov. 8, Avondale and many other cities overwhelmingly approved a Sunday sales referendum. The next step was for the Avondale Estates City Commission to amend the city alcohol ordinance.

To expedite the process, for the sole purpose of giving the required three readings to the amendment. The third and final reading happened late Thursday afternoon.

The Decatur City Commission plans to amend the ordinance Monday, Nov. 21, meaning Sunday sales could start in Decatur Nov. 27.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Winder started Sunday sales last Sunday.

The paper said these cities are expecred to start Sunday sales this weekend:  Alpharetta, College Park, Duluth, East Point, Grayson, Jonesboro, Lawrenceville, Milton, Roswell, Sandy Springs,  Snellville, Sugar Hill, Suwanee, Villa Rica and Woodstock.