Minnesota cities allows limited alcohol sales on Sundays

Throughout Minnesota this past summer, many people celebrated the warmer weather with an alcoholic beverage. In Minnesota there has been a long-standing rule that bans the sale of alcohol on Sundays. However, changes to this rule were allowed the summer throughout the state. In June, several cities across the state — including Duluth and Minneapolis — allowed certain businesses to sell beer on Sundays. The city of St. Paul joined the other cities in early July.

The sale of liquor however, was not completely unregulated for Sundays. Instead, the cities made a special exception for craft beers selling growlers. A growler is a 64-ounce refillable glass jug used to hold beer. These jugs are washed and filled with beer by small local craft brewing pubs. Under the new regulations, people were allowed to purchase these growlers on Sundays. Other alcohol was not included under this exception.

Many people were very excited about this change. In fact, one local pub sold 50 growlers in two hours on the first Sunday it was allowed to sell beer.

While some people may not think that being able to sell beer on Sunday is important, it signals an important change in the regulatory requirements across the state of Minnesota. For many businesses, understanding changes to local regulations is very important. Businesses need to make sure that they are complying with all applicable local, state and federal regulations at any given time.

Regulatory compliance issues can be difficult or businesses to manage. Is often important for people to keep these issues in mind in order to avoid penalties and the loss of business. With the right legal help, however, businesses can ensure that they are in compliance with applicable regulations.

CBS Minnesota, “St. Paul Breweries Start Sunday Growler Sales,” July 5, 2015 

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