If you allow multiple locations, why couldn’t you have the new Price Chopper Liquor store open right next to every Price Chopper in the state?

-Owning several (read: more than 2 or 3) locations may well likely put you out of the “small business” category. BUT, staying a small business should still remain the prerogative of the business owner, not of the state. One should not be forced to limit expansion by non-market (government) influences. Here’s a for-instance: Stewart’s Shops started as a small business, but over time, through good business practices and consumer awareness, expanded the number of stores and has become a very successful LOCAL business entity (not necessarily a small business, but not a multinational corporation, either). Would you advocate forcing them to close all but 1 of their locations, just because you didn’t like what they sell? Even though everything they sell is legal? Of course you wouldn’t. The free market helped Stewart’s make the decision to expand. There was a need, and they filled it.

-Being open 7 days per week would definitely add to labor costs and other overhead. But, again, this should be the choice of the business owner, not the state. There are plenty of viable businesses out there that are open fewer than 7 days a week, but it is the choice of the owner! Your favorite crepe shop is not open every day. Many many restaurants are closed on Mondays – not because they are forced to, but because being closed on Mondays is a calculated business decision. People don’t go out to eat very much on Mondays, and restaurant owners need some time off, too. Again, would you advocate getitng the government to close your favorite restaurant on, say, Wednesdays, because you though they were open too much? Of course you wouldn’t. Let the market decide. The liquor store owners know their customers – much more so than a grocery store does or would – and knows whether or not their store can support being open 7 days a week. If they can, then they should be allowed to!

Does NYS put such restrictions on other types of businesses? No. Liquor is LEGAL. Sure, the state and localities may restrict the location of adult bookstores, but pornography is still legal and stores are allowed to be open 7 days a week. Why the hate for alcohol?

Those laws are indeed remnants of the Blue Laws: a blue law is a type of law designed to enforce religious standards. They just changed it a little. The restriction of alcohol sales on Sundays was in effect until 2003 – almost 75 years after Prohibition ended! And, the sale of liquor or wine for off-premises consumption on Sundays has been banned since before Prohibition. Like other “blue laws,” the ban had its origins in more religious-oriented times when commerce on Sunday was thought to violate the Sabbath. I thought you Liberals were in favor of keeping God out of the government???

The noose may be loosening, but the Women’s Christian Temperance Union still has a stranglehold on NYS liquor laws.

Also, multiple locations would make it easier for big chains to jump and undercut the mom and pop places with lower prices.

I’m not sure I would describe those laws as blue laws. If you are worried about mom and pop and small business, don’t they actually help those kind of business stay viable?