NEW ALBANY, Ind. (WHAS11) -- For many Hoosiers, it was something that had to be seen to be believed.
"I just had to walk in today to this store and check it out. I don't really need anything. I've stocked up a couple days ago," lifelong Hoosier Jeff White said. "Yeah, I wanted to say, 'Yeah, I made it into the store on the first day.'"
"Normally people don't come in smiling and yelling and cheering that you're open, and boy, today, people have been crazy about it," Keg Liquors owner Todd Antz said.
Keg Liquors in New Albany, Indiana, has been around for many years with its shelves always stocked with bottles of booze. But for the first time, the neon sign outside reads open on a Sunday, with customers coming into the store to buy alcohol for the first time in more than 200 years in the Hoosier State.
"How many times, I can't tell you, I"ve gone into a grocery store somewhere and I'm rolling a cart by and I go, 'Oh,' and I see a big sign, 'No Sales on Sunday,' - 'Oh, dang,'" White said.
"They said, 'Don't forget to buy beer for the first time since 1932,' and a lot of cheers and toasts, so we'll probably go have one here this afternoon together," Hoosier Scott Donald said.
Gov. Eric Holcomb, R.-Indiana, signed a new law Wednesday overturning a Sunday alcohol sales ban that was first enacted in 1816 and then reinstated after the end of Prohibition in the 1930s. Before the new law, Hoosiers looking to buy alcohol on Sunday would have to make the drive across state lines.
"When we were younger, we would run out of beer, it was always draw straws for who would drive to Louisville," White said.
"Where we're at, we knew we were losing customers to Kentucky every Sunday, so for me, this was a great thing to be open," Antz said. "This last year, we lost Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, two of our biggest days of business, and to not have the ability to sell on those days were killer."
Antz said the new liquor laws allowing Sunday sales does come with questions about profits and staffing, but if the very first Sunday is any indication, his new hours could be a hit with his customers.
Keg Liquors will be open Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. The new law allows liquor sales on Sunday between noon and 8 p.m. Antz said he will evaluate how many customers come on Sundays before deciding whether to change his hours.
For those looking to buy cold beer from grocery and convenience stores, they're still out of luck in Indiana. An alliance between the big box retailers and the state's liquor store association agreed to support Sunday sales while opposing expanded cold beer sales, which means only liquor stores will be permitted to sell cold beer in the state.