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New Canaan Liquor Stores Set for Sunday Sales

NEW CANAAN, Conn. – Rick Franco does not know what kind of traffic Franco’s Wine Merchants will see when the New Canaan package store opens Sunday for the first time under a new state law.

“I don’t know what to expect,” said Franco, co-owner of the Elm Street shop, which will be open from noon to 5 p.m. Sundays now that the state has given the go-ahead to sell alcohol on Sundays. “But we’ll be here.”

Franco said he has been ready to greet Sunday shoppers who want to drop by and get a bottle of wine or a six-pack of beer. Given that many New Canaan residents usually spend their Sundays “watching their kids play soccer” or taking up other family activities, Franco said business probably won’t be significant. The store will not make deliveries on Sundays as it does other days of the week.

Stewart’s Spirits, the wine store connected to Walter Stewart’s Market on Elm Street, will open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., said general manager Alex Stewart. “I think it’s a good change for our customers. It’s customer-friendly,” Stewart said. “I think we can benefit from the change to sell on Sunday and keep people in town so they don’t have to drive to Vista (New York) or Pound Ridge (N.Y.),” he said.

Jeff Barbour, owner of New Canaan Wine Merchants on Pine Street, said being open on Sunday is no big deal. His shop will open from noon to 4 p.m. Barbour expects shoppers who might normally go to New York on Sundays may stop by, though he feels bad for package stores in the middle of Connecticut that don’t normally deal with competition from shops in New York and Massachusetts. “I’m happy that this is all kind of behind us,” he said.

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