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Sunday: Day of rest or shoppers delight?

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  • superhoop
    superhoop Posts: 318 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    Hi all:

    It has already been stated that in England and Wales that Supermarkets can only open for six hours on a Sunday.

    Technically speaking, this rule applies to most retail outlets above 3,000 sq.ft. and therefore applies to DIY centres out of town parks etc etc. Conversely, that's why your local SPAR, Co-op etc can stay open - because of this size allowance.

    I have a lot of sympathy with the "keep Sunday special" lobby, although I am not particularly religious. When the Govt (Major I think) brought the current law in, it was plain that it was just BAD legislation, for example:

    1) If you travel through England and Wales a lot, who knows whether stores open 10-4 or 11-5? I'm trying to avoid stereotypes, but as a grocery industry watcher I tend to find 10-4 is more common in supermarkets in the north. Why? More roast dinners - more demand for fresh ingredients earlier in the morning. Generally though it's a !!!!!!'s muddle up and down the England & Wales. Much less of a farce is Scotland and NI.

    2) These preview times prior to when a store starts trading are also just silly - and lead to artificial queues when the tills start ringing.

    3) Convenience store operators are desperate for the law to stay as it is - so they remain 'protected' from the multiples on early Sunday mornings and Sunday evenings. But, in my view - I should choose to pay higher prices for goods in Convenience stores because they are nearby and handy - not because I am forced to.

    I think Sunday opening hours should be deregulated for these reasons. People should have the choice. But part of the choice should be for workers to have the right enshrined in law not to work on Sundays for whatever reason they choose.

    One final point - notwithstanding the above points, as a former shop employee myself, I would urge all shop workers to join USDAW. They are a strong union and do a superb job in representing rights on the "shop floor", if you'll pardon the pun.

    Steve
    We are QPR, say we are QPR!
  • nickinoo
    nickinoo Posts: 617 Forumite
    Personally I think things should stay as they are, I really don't see the need for longer opening hours-bank holidays are normally shorter hours & I agree with this.


    I just wonder how MAKRO get away with opening more than 6 hours on a Sunday?
  • superhoop
    superhoop Posts: 318 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    nickinoo wrote:
    I just wonder how MAKRO get away with opening more than 6 hours on a Sunday?

    It's because they are membership-only, therefore they are classified as a 'club' rather than a public-access retailer, and therefore are not subject to the same opening hours. MAKRO has to prove that they strictly enforce this and stop the general public shopping there.

    This also gives them extra advantages when it comes to getting planning permissions as it happens - I think it's slightly easier to get permission for a larger store footprint.

    Steve
    We are QPR, say we are QPR!
  • CovMan_2
    CovMan_2 Posts: 36 Forumite
    The problem with Sunday shopping is that first the shop workers have to work, and then you need admin staff to support them, and so in the end people cannot go shopping on a Sunday because they have to work.

    I get really annoyed by the bright badges they wear in Wilkinsons, "We're open Sundays." Well I'd rather you weren't.

    Life's about more than shopping and making money. I enjoy shopping, I enjoy having money, but I also enjoy Sunday as a day without shopping, and I don't enjoy the fact that I know people who want to do more on a Sunday but you don't get the job unless you are prepared to work Sundays.

    Sunday shopping is not about choice, it is about a lack of choice for the people who have to work it.

    Also why do the shops spend so much effort pushing Sunday opening if people really do want it they would not need to.

    Remember that when you go shopping on the Sunday that the person who serves you may want to be with their family, but can't because they have to work because they need a job and to get that job they have to work Sunday. You may have a choice to work Sunday, but your choice may deny someone else their choice.
  • pootle55_2
    pootle55_2 Posts: 18 Forumite
    The hours are either 10-4 or 11-5, the law specifys that. I work at Bluewater and would love to have a day to rest, all we get is Easter Sunday and Christmas day, I know it is my choice to work in retail, but when I started out the shops were closed on Sundays. It was only DIY shops and the local corner shop that were open. Now I am a manager and too old to change jobs. The thing I find most annoying is that after doing a long day even when the shutter is coming down at 10pm there is always somebody who just wants to have a look. When I get the opportunity to go food shopping I have to go after 10pm at night so I am so glad the supermarkets do 24 hrs (even though I wish they wouldn't have to for people like me), or I would starve to death. We must stop the extra shopping hours - there are plenty already!
    No reliance should be placed on the above.
  • spiro
    spiro Posts: 6,405 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I think it should be deregulated, it would then be 'governed' by demand. In the summers months when you want to do things in the garden how often have you had to wait until you local DIY store opens because you haven't got something you need? Stores are already stretching the Sunday hours by opening for you to 'preview' the goods. Whilst previewing may be a valid thing to do for something like furniture or a car, who needs to preview their weeks groceries? Where I live we have 2 Tescos and they stagger their Sunday hours already to increase shopping time from 6 to 7 hours.
    IT Consultant in the utilities industry specialising in the retail electricity market.

    4 Credit Card and 1 Loan PPI claims settled for £26k, 1 rejected (Opus).
  • Whats the matter with all you shopaholics, have you no life? we have enough problems now with children being left at home alone because their Mums and Dads have to do extra hours to satisfy shoppers who cannot be bothered to get themselves organized during the week and the greedy retailers have a lot to answer for the damage they have done in opening up on sundays. The hours are enough, leave them alone! Give the staff a break to be at home with their families
  • pootle55 wrote:
    The hours are either 10-4 or 11-5, the law specifys that.

    The law specifies 6 hours - no stipulation on what those 6 hours are. But because people don't get up at sparrow's fart on a Sunday (generally) the stores choose 10-4, 11-5 and to a much lesser extent 12-6
    There are 10 types of people in the world, those that understand binary and those that don't

    In many cases it helps if you say where you are - someone with local knowledge might be able to give local specifics rather than general advice
  • Poll Started 22 June 2005 Sunday Trading: Retailers are asking the government to extend Sunday Trading Hours so they don't have to close at four. Which of these is closest to your view?

    B. Increase hours: it should be the same as other days 40.2% - (937 Votes)
    C. Close shops on Sunday: return to the old days of closed shops 30.9% - (720 Votes)
    A. No change: current hours are fine 28.7% - (671 Votes)

    Total Votes: 2330
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  • Mosh
    Mosh Posts: 166 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    True 24/7 shopping is one of the reasons I'd move to Scotland were it not for the fact I a) can't afford to move and b) can't e hassled with a silly long drive for home games.

    I'm very often away most of the weekend and when I get home, I want to stop by the supermarket and pick up some stuff for the week - bits and bobs for lunches, milk, and all that. Only, I can't. Unless I get home much earlier than 4pm.

    If people want to "keep Sunday special" then fine - that's up to them. Feel free. Go do churchy things, or spend time with your families or whatever. But surely *I* should be able to decide whether I want to go shopping or not?

    My local Morrisons (all of them) are *heaving* on a Sunday, as for many people it's the only day they can get the time to do a large shop. Of course, narrowing the opening hours down to a paltry six makes things even worse as there's no way to spread the load.

    I'll stop now. This is a bugbear of mine and it has been for years...
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