HARRISBURG — The two members of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board on Monday made their case for preserving the more than 600 state stores that sell wine and liquor in Pennsylvania, even though one said he personally supports privatizing the sale of alcoholic beverages.

Appearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee, board Chairman Joseph “Skip” Brion and Robert Marcus described recent efforts to enhance customer convenience and expressed frustration over the Legislature’s reluctance to further expand sales.

More than 100 people, many wearing the familiar yellow T-shirts of the main state-store employee union, packed the hearing room in a show of support for the board and opposition to Gov. Tom Corbett’s privatization proposal.

With the number of supermarkets now licensed to sell beer at nearly 160 and climbing in the wake of court decisions allowing the practice under certain conditions, the agency is relocating state stores as their leases expire so drinkers don’t have to make separate trips to buy groceries, beer, and liquor, the board members said.

Both men bemoaned the rejection in recent years of legislation to allow more stores to open on Sundays and stay open longer, and to permit Pennsylvanians to have wine shipped directly to their homes. They said the Sunday sales changes alone would boost the agency’s already strong profits by $10 million to $15 million a year.

The PLCB generates roughly $2 billion a year, most of which is plowed back into the operation for products, payroll, store leases and other overhead, Brion said. The rest is transferred to the state treasury in the form of taxes and profits, he said.