Metro Atlantans line up to buy alcohol

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By Kristi E. Swartz

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Jonathan Orr has been waiting for this day for seven years.

Ana Laura Araya, Special Loren Seagrave, from Florida, did not even know about the Georgia Liquor Law. He had gone to the Johnson Ferry Trader Joe's location on Sunday and was directed to the Sandy Springs store. He bought 13 cases of Charles Shaw wine.

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“When do you actually get to drink history?” asked Orr, waiting with his three young children just feet from the front counter of The Beer Growler in Avondale Estates.

Sunday marked the first day that some cities in Georgia could legally sell alcohol on that day. After 12:30 p.m. grocery stores, convenience stores and liquor stores could start selling alcohol in least 18 cities in Cherokee, Clayton, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties.

The Beer Growler opened at noon and soon after was buzzing with people waiting, chatting and deciding what draft beers to fill their growlers with.

“I didn’t expect it to be this busy,” said Paul Saunders, co-owner. Saunders said sales actually dropped off about 5 percent Saturday night. He chalked it up to the cold weather – but also thinks customers knew they could relax and wait until Sunday afternoon to come by.

Orr moved to Georgia from Louisiana seven years ago. The family’s first Sunday – a football Sunday, he called it – was a shock. Even though people warned the family they couldn’t buy beer that day, they went to the grocery store and filled their cart. Orr said he figured the lights in the beer aisle weren’t working and that’s why the shelves weren’t lit.

“We loaded it all onto the conveyor belt, and everyone was looking at us like we were crazy,” his wife, Daphne Orr said. “They were the crazy ones.”

Avondale Estates Mayor Ed Rieker bought the first growler – 64-ounce glass jugs that can be filled and refilled with draft beer – with Ode to Mercy from Wild Heaven Craft Beers in Decatur.

Roughly 50 metro area cities approved Sunday sales in referendums Nov. 8, made possible by legislation that lifted a statewide ban so long as local voters approved. Statewide, 128 cities held votes — 105 saying yes — on the earliest election date since the law changed, according to data compiled by the Georgia Food Industry Association.

Most of the customers who packed the Main Street Package Store in East Point around 1 p.m. said they were headed home to enjoy a couple of newly bought cold brews while watching football.

Employee Inder Ghai said business had been “booming” since the store opened.

Jarvis Davis was one of the store’s first customers.

“It’s a beautiful thing, it’s a beautiful thing,” said Davis.

The list of cities near Atlanta to begin Sunday sales this weekend was: Alpharetta, Auburn, Avondale Estates, Braselton, College Park, Duluth, East Point, Grayson, Jonesboro, Lawrenceville, Milton, Roswell, Sandy Springs, Snellville, Sugar Hill, Suwanee, Union City, Villa Rica and Woodstock.

Winder allowed Sunday sales to begin Nov. 13.

Voters in the city of Atlanta also approved Sunday sales, but under an ordinance passed by the City Council in October, the sales will not begin until Jan. 1.

Zach Vaughan and his wife were perusing the shelves of the Trader Joe’s in Sandy Springs, looking for bottles of wine for Thanksgiving.

“The reality is, we might not have been able to do this during the week,” Vaughan said.

Vaughan said the couple both voted “yes” for Sunday sales when casting ballots earlier this month.

“Weekends are weekends. There’s a day where you want to sit and sip an adult beverage and watch football and not have to think, ‘Oh, yeah, I can’t buy beer because it’s Sunday.’”

Reporter Johnny Edwards contributed to this article