By Nathan Straus
nstraus@jacksonville progress.com
Convenience stores in Rusk are fired up about the recent proposition passed allowing restaurants and stores to sell alcohol. The change has proved to be a definite boom to business.
Skeeter Irby, owner of the Skeeter’s convenience store on Highway 69, said he’s constantly having to shelf and re-shelf beer in his store.
“It’s doubled my taxable sales,” Irby added.
He said he believes the approval of alcohol sales will help the community tremendously.
“I see in Brookshire Brothers every other buggy has drinks in it,” Irby stated.
Debbie Butler, manager of the Thompson Valero in Rusk, said sales are going great.
“I think it’s wonderful,” she said of the propositions’ passing.
Irby claimed the first thought to go through his head when he heard about the new alcohol laws was, “I have to spend a fortune to get in business”.
In addition to the drinks themselves, cooling space also needed to be built or purchased.
“If sales keep going like this then it’s going to work out all right,” he added.
Skeeter’s has had to hire extra employees to keep up with demand. All of them have been through training to make sure they don’t sell alcohol to minors.
Weekends and paydays are the busy days for alcohol-selling establishments.
Until the alcohol laws were passed, Rusk citizens had to drive around 40 miles to purchase liquor at Cuney.
The decision to circulate the petitions to call for an election on this issue sparked debate within the community earlier in the year. Both petitions were prepared by a company hired by the Rusk Citizens for Economic Growth, a grassroots political goup including several Rusk citizens. Those opposed to the propositions formed the Citizens Against Legalized Liquor political group.
Proposition 1, concerning the sales of alcohol for off-premises consumption, passed 356 for, 326 against. Proposition 2, pertaining to the sale of alcoholic beverages in restaurants, passed 379 for, 301 against.
