Car dealer and customers weigh in on proposed "Blue Law"

COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. - Joey Haynes spent his Sunday searching for a new ride at Brad's Cottage Grove Chevrolet. He found one, a Dodge pick-up. But a proposed new blue law could make purchases like purchases Joey's impossible.

Oregon auto dealers are asking the government to ban Sunday sales. The state Auto Dealers' Association says 80 percent of dealers support the blue law. Brad Cohen is one of them. KVAL News asked Cohen how sales are on Sundays.

"Sunday's can actually be a very good day," said Cohen. "And sometimes it's not. It just depends on what people are doing, whether they are in their yard or not. We do a lot of weekend business in this store."

Cohen said closing on Sundays would save him money on operating costs and help him stay in business. But, he adds, the law must be obeyed by everybody in order for it to be successful.

"That would be great as long as everybody was on the same page," said Cohen. "If something isn't exercised in a law, dealers won't do it. It's an unfair advantage to the ones that would stay open while the others were closed."

By the time our crews left, the dealership had sold three cars on this Sunday, a fair sales day, Cohen said. But not enough to make him change his mind.

The new law wouldn't cost lawmakers anything. But they already have a very busy session in 2009.


Source: kval.com