Bemidji Changes Decision On Sunday Liquor Sales

About a month after deciding to keep Bemidji’s municipal liquor stores closed on Sundays, city leaders have decided to change course.

City Manager Nate Mathews tells Lakeland News that the city’s liquor stores will open for business beginning on July 2nd. Minnesota law allows for liquor stores to open on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. beginning on July 2nd.

“We made the decision to open both of our stores today,” Mathews said. “The other stores close to Bemidji are doing it, so we will be opening.”

Mathews says they are still working out the schedule but both municipal stores will be open either from 11 a.m to 5 p.m or from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“The revenues of opening are speculative and we will have to assess that now,” Mathews said.

Most liquor stores in the three biggest cities in the Lakeland viewing area are opening on Sundays. An Lakeland PBS poll of liquor stores within a 10 mile radius of the hub cities Bemidji, Brainerd and Grand Rapids found 20 of 22 stores surveyed plan to open. One will not open and one is undecided.

Managers from several stores which are opening told Lakeland News they were cautiously optimistic that Sunday sales could prove beneficial for their businesses but said they will be watching their sales numbers closely.