One official says Virginia could make $5 million per year by opening liquor stores on Sunday.

A bill has been passed by the Virginia General Assembly that would allow ABC stores to be open on Sunday.

The decision is now in the governor's hands, and folks from Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control say it could be very beneficial.

“What this bill does is make it a statewide option that ABC can open any store after 1:00 p.m. on Sunday,” says ABC Chief Operating Officer Curtis Coleburn.

It would be a change, because currently only urban counties or counties with more than 100,000 people have liquor stores that can open on Sunday.

If signed into law, it wouldn't necessarily mean all stores would be open.

“We would basically, on a store-by-store basis, look at things like what their sales are the other days of the week and what the shopping patterns are in the community,” says Coleburn.

“Six days a week the liquor store is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. That's plenty of time for people to get their alcoholic beverages,” says local resident Tamika Sydnor.

While some people don't agree with it, Coleburn says a lot of poeple have told him they want ABC stores open on Sunday.

“We hope they're gonna find it more convenient. Sunday is, in other areas of commerce, the second largest sales day of the week. So we're hoping people like to shop on Sunday, and we'll be providing better customer service,” says Coleburn.

Coleburn says he's not sure if stores in our community would be open on Sundays, but they have access to all sales records and would review them and make a decision.

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