ANDERSON — Ricker beers?

Jay Ricker has made his name with fountain drinks affectionately called “Ricker pops,” but the Ricker name could soon be known for something else — cold beer and alcohol on Sunday.

Ricker is hoping to rally Hoosiers behind him in an effort to change Indiana’s blue laws — those that prohibit the sale of alcohol on Sunday, the Sabbath.

In addition to blue law abolishment, Ricker wants lawmakers to allow stores like his to sell cold beer.

Ricker is part of the group Hoosiers for Beverage Choices, an organization lobbying to change what they say are unfair laws that favor liquor stores and limit customers’ choices.

According to the group’s Web site, “The goal of HBC is to update Indiana law to allow for the carry-out sale of alcoholic beverages on Sundays and the sale of cold beer at drug, grocery and convenience stores.”

The group is hosting an online petition to drum up support for its cause. So far, 10,000 Hoosiers have lent their names to the movement, HBC claims.

Ricker is most concerned with the cold beer part of the campaign. “We’re not asking people to sign a petition so you can buy a quart of Jack Daniel’s at a convenience store.”

If the law were passed, Ricker said, he’d focus on selling cold beer and wine in select stores. In all, Ricker owns 30 convenience stores spread over Madison, Allen, Delaware and Henry counties.

None of them carries alcoholic beverages.

Ricker said current liquor laws in Indiana favor liquor stores. “What I think is the most unfair is that anybody who has a grocery, convenience or drugstore cannot sell cold beer. The liquor stores have always had a very strong voice in shaping those rules, and they’ve made it so that they’re the only ones who can sell carryout that’s cold.”

The benefit of changing the law, he said, would be enjoyed not just by retailers.

“We think the playing field needs to be leveled,” Ricker said. “Obviously we’d get sales, but the consumer, too, would be better served. It’s limiting competition, and that’s not what America is all about. It’s about having competition.”

Under the current law, Ricker could sell warm beer at his stores, but he chooses not to.

A recent sampling of Ricker’s customers seemed to disagree with his plans to sell cold beer.

Pat Boone of Anderson was one of them. “I think it would cause more problems anytime alcohol is accessible on every street corner,” Boone said.

Brittany Myer, 20, of Anderson, not yet old enough to drink, said Ricker’s stores should carry beer.

“Sure, they sell it at BP,” she said. “Why not sell it here.”



Selling on the Sabbath?

Those with the HBC are challenging so-called blue laws, often calling them archaic and puritanical.

Ricker said that, in his mind, times had changed. “In many states, you can buy alcohol on Sundays. We live in a different world than we did 100 years ago.”

Josh Crockett of Grace Baptist Church in Anderson said the laws were rooted in early American history.

“I think historically the reason Americans have had laws protecting Sunday is because of the Christian heritage that we have and much of New England was settled by different religious denominations all claiming to be Christian,” Crockett said. “The setting aside of Sunday as a special day has its roots in the New Testament”

This, he said, was because Sunday marks the resurrection of Christ.

The Old Testament also supports a Sunday rest, Crockett said. “In the Old Testament, God mandated that humans would have one day off. After six days of God working, he took the seventh day off. He said this is the day we need to rest.”

“We have such a high-paced, fast-paced culture, sometimes we don’t take that day to rest,” Crockett said.

Christians have evolved this belief to include the consumption of alcohol, not because of biblical references, but necessity, he said. “I think a lot of American Christians have been leery of alcohol just because of the effect on society.”

Whatever the history or logic of the laws, Ricker maintains, today’s laws are inconsistent and unfair.

“It’s kind of how our country evolved from the Puritan ethic to today,” Ricker said. “Depending on what state you’re in, the rules are totally different.”

Ricker has little patience for those who argue that selling beer at convenience stores increases the instance of drunken driving.

“That’s a false argument in my mind,” he said, “because how do most people get to the liquor store? They drive to it.”

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Blue law defined

According to Indiana law, it is unlawful to sell alcohol from 3 a.m. Sunday until 7 a.m. the following Monday. Restaurants serving food are the exception but cannot sell alcohol before 10 a.m.. Sunday and must cease sales by 12:30 a.m. Monday.