WORTHINGTON - The Worthington City Council on Monday voted to have the Municipal Liquor Store open on Sundays, as a trial run.
The only question is when it will happen. Though liquor stores can open up on Sunday starting July 2, council gave City Administrator Steve Robinson and Liquor Store Manager Dan Wycoff time to make the change happen.
Wycoff said he wasn’t prepared for Sunday hours quite yet, as his focus has been on the new liquor store, but did not rule out that Sunday hours could be ready by early July.
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The city had initially been against opening Sundays, as city staff expressed concern that revenue from Sunday sales would not exceed the operational expenses for the extra hours.
However, a financial analysis found the store would make an extra profit of $20,000 per year being open Sundays. The analysis prompted the city to discuss opening the store on Sunday a as a trial run, to see if it is profitable.
Hours were not specified, but Wycoff said he preferred noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Council members Alan Oberloh and Chad Cummings said they did not want the store opening up sooner than noon.
The council also discussed the new liquor store. Bids were received on May 18 for the remodeling of the former Dollar General Store building, which the city purchased in December for $1 million.
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As bids for the work exceeded the engineering department’s estimates by more than $350,000, council voted to reject the bids and directed the city to undertake engineering modifications to the building project and rebid it this summer in an attempt to get better bids.
Wycoff was hopeful the new store could be open by February or March.
With a better location and more space, Wycoff expects the new store would bring in significantly more revenue than the current location.
