Petitioners Hope to End Blue Laws in North Dakota

North Dakota Open on Sundays held a petition stand at West Acres Mall to end the blue laws

FARGO, ND — The “North Dakota Open on Sundays” group spent their day asking people to sign their petition at West Acres Mall.

While dozens of states still have some form of Sunday sales law, North Dakota may be the strictest when it comes to retail business hours.

The “Blue Law” states that any retail business cannot open before noon on any given Sunday.

For some shoppers, this hasn’t been sitting right with them for a long time.

“I just think that for myself, busy week Saturdays sometimes are taken up with a ton of stuff and I like to go shopping in the mornings on Sunday whenever I wake up,” said Fargo Shopper, Bill Lucas.

“We think this is a great place to hang out because all of the people here who are impacted by this who would rather like to have the opportunity to decide for themselves on whether or not they can shop on Sunday mornings or not,” said Chairman with North Dakota Open on Sundays, Brandon Medenwald.

Brandon Medenwald is the chairman of North Dakota Open on Sundays.

He said this is something he’s passionate about and he’s happy to step up to the plate to help get the job done.

“It’s so old the law is,” said Medenwald. “It’s 1889 when we became the state and I think sometimes there’s just not enough inertia to change these things.”

“I think overwhelmingly people in North Dakota realize we need to just get more in touch with the times,” said Lucas.

However one business owner said he likes to keep it traditional, and Sundays should be a day of leisure.

“I think everyone deserves a day of rest and when you work five to six days a week, you need to take a break,” said Assistant Owner with Pinch & Pour, Gregg Robbins.

He also said no matter what day of the week your business is open, sales will always be a hit or miss and being open on Sunday’s won’t make much of a difference.

“Your locals they go to the lakes so they’re gone,” said Robbins. “So Mondays and Tuesdays tend to be a larger day than Sundays.”

Petitioners are hopeful their goal of 20,000 signatures will have a successful outcome in the end.

“I think it will get done,” said Medenwald. “I think people are behind this I think business owners are behind us I think the average person is ready to see this law go away.”

The petition will be presented to the Secretary of State’s office next spring.