Tennessee Senate OKs Sunday Wine, Liquor Sales

NASHVILLE, TN — The Tennessee Senate narrowly approved a measure Wednesday which will allow Sunday sales of wine and liquor.

The Senate voted 17-11 - the absolute minimum needed for passage - Wednesday to end Tennessee’s long-standing Sunday booze ban. The House approved the bill Tuesday. The bill now goes to Gov. Bill Haslam, who said he will sign the measure.

Under the bill, grocery stores will not be allowed to begin Sunday wine sales until 2019, though traditional package stores will be able to begin right away.

Stores will be able to sell wine and liquor between 10 a.m. and 11 p.m. on Sundays. It also opens up sales on Independence Day and New Year’s Day, but maintains the sales ban on Christmas Day, Thanksgiving and Easter.

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Under existing law, wine and liquor cannot be sold between 11 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. Monday in addition to certain holidays.

That law came into sharp focus in 2017, as it does every seven years or so, when liquor stores were closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

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