Lancaster County Commissioners approve change to Sunday alcohol sale hours

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — A change to alcohol laws in Lancaster County is on the way.

The Lancaster County Commissioners on Tuesday voted to approve a change to Sunday alcohol sales after local businesses said the current rules put smaller stores at a disadvantage.

Currently, in the rural corners of Lancaster County, beer and wine cannot be sold before 9 a.m., and hard liquor cannot be sold until noon.

But the vote today changed that rule, allowing rural stores to sell beer, wine and liquor from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m., the same rules as the city of Lincoln.

For Emerald Mini-Mart, Sundays have always been a challenge.

“We just noticed that the new store that opened, Mavericks, they can sell alcohol early in the morning right away, and we can’t, so we wanted to change that,” said the owner’s son, Yash Cheema.

The district manager of Casey’s in the county testified in support of the amendment, saying that one of their stores has been impacted by the restrictions.

“When they stop in, that is our only location for Casey’s within that area that does not fit the city limits, so just here to share that it is a consumer concern because it does provide confusion and frustrations,” said district manager Jon Bowler.

Cheema said he’s thankful to Bowler for agreeing with his cause.

“It means everything to know that Jon Bowler has been especially helpful, and we just want to thank him in that process,” he said.

Cheema also mentioned the restriction cost him customers and sometimes entire days of alcohol sales.

Now that the change has happened, his store has a fair shot.

“I think I speak for a lot of people, the lake is right out here, and this convenience store has everything you need, no one wants to drive another seven miles into town just to buy alcohol,” said Mary Jones.

Cheema said it’s hard to turn down sales in his tight-knit community.

“To turn customers right away, and it kind of breaks our heart to do that,” he said. “They come in tired, working the night shift, and now we have to turn them away, and it really breaks our hearts to do that.”

He added that this change could help small shops like theirs compete with bigger chains and keep business local.

And he wanted to thank the people who made it possible.

“Just thank you to Sean, Christi, Matt, Chelsi, and especially Rick West; they’ve been incredibly helpful, and we just want to thank them so so much for this.”