It’s been a slow start for Sunday sales, local package retailers say.

Walter Mahone, owner of Cartersville Beverage Company, said while Sunday sales during the holidays at his two stores was busy, business has slowed down. And, while Mahone said it likely will be worth it to continue opening on Sundays, it’s too early to predict if business will pick up as more people realize the store is open or if it will continue to take away from the profits on other days.

“We really haven’t had it long enough to tell if it will take away from Saturday or Monday sales,” Mahone said. “Time will tell. I’m hopeful it will be worth it.”

At the store off Felton Road, business is impacted positively by the fact that Walmart and Ingles are both in Bartow County’s jurisdiction and can’t sell packaged alcohol on Sundays.

Shoppers “will come here because they can’t get it there,” Mahone said.

Many municipalities in Georgia approved Sunday sales on last November’s ballot. While Cartersville residents approved the referendum, Bartow County still does not allow Sunday sales in unincorporated areas.

According to a report published by USA Today in 2010, the number of states allowing the sale of alcohol on Sundays is rising, with 14 states added to the list in 2002, bringing the nation’s total to 36. Auburn University Economist David told the newspaper that laws limiting the sale of alcohol on Sundays began to disappear once women entered the labor force in the past century. And, he said governments often repeal such laws during economic downturns.

At Country Spirits behind the QuikTrip on U.S. Highway 41, business has steadily increased on Sundays since Dec. 4, the day Sunday sales in Cartersville went into effect. Jan. 22 was the store’s busiest Sunday with 100 customers, which employee David Anderson said is comparable to business on a Monday or Tuesday before Sunday sales started.

However, the store’s employees said they would much rather continue to be closed on Sunday.

“We make money, but we could have made the same amount [on other days] staying closed,” Anderson said.

On Dec. 4, customers were lined up at the door when the store opened at 12:30 p.m., but the establishment didn’t even hit 100 customers that day.

“As the day went on, we were just hanging around,” Anderson said.

Will Sunday package sales hurt, help or have no effect on local businesses or the economy? Tell us in the comments below.

And, the store’s Saturday and Monday sales are hurting now.

“People used to buy more on those two days,” Anderson said. “It’s not worth it as of now, though it’s starting to pick up.”