Used to think Massachusetts had the weirdest blue law about no sales on Sunday until I moved to Bergen County New Jersey and found out they even ban furniture shopping that day...

Six months ago I could buy a couch on a Sunday in Boston no problem, but now I gotta plan my whole weekend around a county rule from the 1950s and it makes zero sense for 2024, has anyone else run into a local blue law that just feels totally random?

3 comments

3 Comments

nancyg141mo ago

@jamie804 that's exactly the kind of nonsense I'm dealing with here in Bergen. You can buy a car on Sunday in the next county over in New Jersey just fine, but cross some invisible line and suddenly furniture is basically contraband until Monday. The whole thing feels like we're still pretending it's 1950 and shops need to shut down for church crowds that don't really exist anymore.

the_olivia1mo ago

Wait, is this right? I thought the Ohio ban on Sunday car sales was statewide, not just a local town thing. I looked into it when I moved to Columbus a few years back, and I'm pretty sure it's a state law, not a county or city one. There's actually like a dozen states that still have it on the books. Your mileage may vary though, maybe your town has an extra strict version on top of the state rule. I just remember being told by a dealer that it's an old blue law from when people had to go to church and couldn't shop on Sundays, and they just never updated it.

jamie8041mo ago

Moved from Philly to a small town in Ohio for work and found out you can't buy a car on a Sunday here. Not like a dealership being closed, I mean the actual law says NO car sales on Sunday. Went to test drive a truck one Sunday and the guy literally told me he'd lose his license if he let me sign anything. Had to come back Monday morning like a chump. The crazy part is you CAN buy a couch or a TV or whatever on Sunday here, just not a vehicle. Makes about as much sense as a screen door on a submarine. I called the county clerk's office to ask why and they said it was to give car salesmen a day off. That was like 60 years ago when every dealer was a little family shop and now it's just a huge pain for people who work weird hours like me.