Can a municipality impose a later opening hour for “Class A” beer and/or liquor retail establishments?
Yes. State law currently allows retail Class "A" beer and "Class A"
liquor establishments to open for sales at 6:00 a.m. However,
municipalities may impose more restrictive hours by ordinance for both
types of these carry-out establishments. Wis. Stat. secs. 125.32(3)(d)
and 125.68(4)(b).
If a community has incorporated ch. 125 by
ordinance and the community wants later opening hours, such as 8:00 a.m,
to apply to carry out beer and liquor stores, they will need to adopt
an ordinance establishing a later allowable opening hour. Similarly, if a
community has an ordinance stating that the earliest morning opening
hour for retail beer and liquor stores is 8:00 a.m. "as specified in
secs. 125.32(3) and 125.68(4)" or similar language, the community should
amend the ordinance to remove any reference to the state law since it
allows a 6:00 a.m. opening.