FLORENCE COUNTY, SC (WBTW) – The majority of Florence County, Marlboro County, and Darlington County voters approved referendums for alcohol sales on Sundays.
Florence County Council Chairman, Kent Caudle, told News13 the Florence County referendum is only for on-premise consumption.
“It’s put us on a level playing field with the City of Florence,” Caudle said. “Not selling on Sunday is not going to stop anybody from drinking that wants to.”
FATZ Cafe manager, Ashlee Smith, said the passed referendum was a long-time coming.
“I look forward to it,” Smith said. “This is something we’ve been waiting on for a very very long time, and I couldn’t be happier.”
FATZ is located near the I-95 exit and entrance ramps off of Highway 52 in Florence County.
“We’re going to make a lot of people happy that normally weren’t so happy leaving on Sundays because now we can serve them,” said Smith.
Smith said the restaurant has been open for 19 years, and has lost money because it can’t sell alcohol on Sundays.
“People are walking out because we can’t serve them on Sunday and that also means they’re not buying food from us,” she explained. “We lose a lot of our customers so this is going to be beneficial to us.”
Smith said the new law could bring in an additional 20 thousand dollars a year for the business.
“This is going to increase taxes,” she said. “This is going to increase profit actually for the whole entire county so, to me, this is a step forward in the right direction.”
Caudle said Sunday alcohol sales will be implemented once the certified vote is delivered to the South Carolina Department of revenue which could happen by the end of the year.