Poll: Vast majority of Hoosiers want cold beer, Sunday alcohol sales

Tony Cook | IndyStar

Show Caption Hide Caption Poll results say most Hoosiers want cold beer, Sunday alcohol sales Scot Imus, of Indiana Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association, shares poll results about Indiana alcohol laws, that show a majority of Hoosiers support expanding cold beer sales and allowing Sunday carryout alcohol sales, June 5, 2017.

A new poll shows that an overwhelming majority of Hoosiers favor expanding cold beer sales in Indiana and allowing carryout alcohol sales on Sunday.

About 70 percent of those surveyed said they favored allowing all licensed retailers to sell cold beer, according to results obtained by IndyStar. Current law restricts cold beer sales primarily to package liquor stores.

"While we weren’t surprised to find public support for cold beer sales, we were taken a bit aback by the level of that support," said Scot Imus, executive director of the Indiana Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association, which paid for the poll.

The new poll also found that 65 percent of respondents said they favored allowing Sunday carryout sales of alcohol.

The survey of 600 registered voters was conducted by Fabrizio, Lee & Associates and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

The issue of cold beer sales exploded during last year's legislative session, when convenience store chain Ricker's obtained a restaurant permit for two of its stores that allowed them to sell cold beer for carryout.

At the urging of the package liquor store industry, lawmakers quickly passed a law to prevent any other stores from doing the same. The new law also requires Ricker's to stop selling cold beer at its two stores by April 2018.

The state's package liquor stores traditionally have been the primary sellers of cold carryout beer and oppose allowing other retailers to enter that market. The industry also opposes Sunday alcohol sales and argues that looser alcohol restrictions could put lives at risk.

"Big Oil is well-intentioned with their polls and campaign," said Jon Sinder, owner of Crown Liquors and vice president of the Indiana Association of Beverage Retailers, the trade group for the package liquor store industry. "However, they miss the point — alcohol is a dangerous commodity. It is not meant to be convenient."

The poll comes ahead of what is expected to be a heated debate over alcohol policy during next year's legislative session.

After this year's debate over Ricker's cold beer sales, the General Assembly set up a state commission to study alcohol issues before next year's legislative session, when lawmakers will have to decide whether to allow Ricker's to continue selling cold beer.

"All issues are on the table as we begin this process," Senate Leader David Long said Monday in a statement. "I expect the study commission’s first area of focus to be the retail sector of alcohol sales, with formal recommendations being submitted this fall."

Jay Ricker, founder of the Ricker's convenience store chain, said he welcomed the review.

"I think it's a big step in the right direction," he said.

In the meantime, proponents of expanded cold beer sales plan to keep up the pressure on lawmakers.

The convenience store association is launching a public awareness campaign called Chill Indiana. The campaign will use a "sometimes satirical" approach to call attention to Indiana's "archaic" alcohol laws, Imus said.

Call IndyStar reporter Tony Cook at (317) 444-6081. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.