Wichita ? A lot more beer came off the walls of stores in Wichita on Sunday as customers could finally take them down and pass them around.

Liquor and convenience stores in the state’s largest city started selling alcohol Sunday after an attempt to force a citywide vote to continue the ban of sales on the first day of the week had failed.

Liquor store owners and employees around town said Sunday’s sales rivaled those of Saturday as some outlets offered discounts to attract customers.

At R&J Discount Liquor, a line had already formed when owner Shelly Breault got to the store an hour early. The store was scheduled to open at 1 p.m.

“We had people waiting at noon and opened early,” Breault said. “We didn’t know what to expect. We’ve been busy.”

Brad Sommerfield bought a cold six-pack after spending the afternoon doing yard work in 93-degree weather. “It’s nice to mow and trim your grass on Sunday and buy a beer,” he said.

Customer Bill Compton showed up after running out of beer. “Usually, if I ran out of beer I would have done without,” he said.

Wichita City Council approved the expanded sales in April, but the law didn’t go into effect until this week because opponents tried to force a citywide vote to keep Sundays dry.

In Kansas, cities and counties have been allowed to approve Sunday alcohol sales since 2005, but the issue can be pushed to a public vote if opponents gather enough signatures.

More than 50 cities approved full-week sales by 2006. However, the serious discussion about the issue didn’t surface in Wichita until last fall.

In Wichita, liquor stores and retailers are now able to sell packaged alcoholic beverages from noon to 8 p.m. on Sundays.

Alcohol sales still won’t be allowed on Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.