Sunday trading

[Blighter]

Sorry, bit of a rant!
Does anybody else think that forcing large supermarkets to close on a Sunday night is stupid?

Surely if the law was bought in as it is a 'day of rest' then everything should be forced to shut (not just large shops)?

Grr. I want to go get some shopping!! :angry: ;D

[Mark]

I guess the days when all shops (bar the corner shop, maybe) closed on a Sunday are before your time! ;D

The current rules seem sufficient to me. If you can't get shopping during the 140 hours some shops manage to open, you'll just have to do without during the 28 when they're not. :p

[Psymonkee]

Business as normal up here! :p

[divine]

It is annoying tbh, totally pointless and arbitrary these days really

[Blighter]

I guess the days when all shops (bar the corner shop, maybe) closed on a Sunday are before your time! ;D

The current rules seem sufficient to me. If you can't get shopping during the 140 hours some shops manage to open, you'll just have to do without during the 28 when they're not. :p

But that is my point, there shouldn't be laws around when you can and can't open your shop. I know it only applies to shops over 3000 sq ft, but in all honestly that makes it sound even more stupid!

I'm not allowed to go shopping at a supermarket but am allowed to pay over the odds at a garage, or go bowling, to the cinema, or anything else!

[Stan_Lite]

This is one of the things I've struggled to get used to since I moved to Englandshire (and I've been here for 4 1/2 years). Back home in Scotland, it's pretty much business as usual on a Sunday. I still get caught out having to get to the supermarket between 10 and 4 on a Sunday.

I also think the licensing hours are weird. All the pubs shut at 11 through the week. Back home, most pubs are open until 12 or 1 every day.

[LeperousDust]

Yesssss Scotland has this right for once :p

[Will]

I dunno... I kinda like that tradition. In small rural areas, and certainly in France and most definitely in Cyprus a lot of things are completely closed on Sunday and don't even open.

Though I accept that in this modern world/life it would make sense to change the laws as in general, and with chagrin I must admit that Sunday doesn't really have the same meaning as it used to (i.e. a Religious day).

Still there are plenty of shops open for a decent period of the day on a Sunday. :)

[Kitten]

I agree Will. But then we do have a Tesco Express 7~11 on the main road less than 2 mins away & 24 hr Tesco garage within a mile the other way so it's easy for me to say!

[Haly]

I like the tradition of it all too.

In my little town outside Swansea, everywhere was shut on a Sunday a few years ago. These days, the only places open are the takeaways and a Sainsbury's Local and an Asda, both of which opened relatively recently. Never really go to them though so doesn't make much difference to me.

It's a town that still close their shops on a Saturday lunch time though so it is a little traditional :D

I see it from both sides really.

Sometimes it's irritating when a shop is closed early on a Sunday, usually due to my poor planning. Then again, I remember when everything was shut on a Sunday and people just planned around it. Made Sundays a lot more serene and quiet too :D

Meh. I'm a proper fence sitter on this one :p I think people should relax and slow down but then other days I want everything open all the time ;D

Edit: Oh but I do think the exemption rules are silly. When I worked for Blockbuster, we were only ever shut for Christmas Day yet the supermarkets weren't allowed to be open Boxing Day. Should be all or nothing really!

[Kitten]

Is it about competition? Smaller corner-type shops must do better on a Sunday than any other day of the week.

[Blighter]

I agree completely that some towns want to stay shut, what I was on about was it not being right forcing supermarkets in larger city's to close

[vix]

So, there's something you run out of on a Sunday that's so important it can't wait til the next day? That's just bad planning!

[Belmit]

The way I see it, if there is enough demand on a Sunday to warrant opening the shops for longer then they should be allowed to. In these cosmopolitan times it seems archaic to have a constrictive law based on outdated practices. I'm not bothered that they shut at 4pm but there have been occasions when I've suddenly decided a Sunday roast would be a brilliant idea and it's too late to get to a shop before closing. I'm pretty sure banks and building societies would see an increase in custom if they suddenly decided to open briefly on a Sunday, or all day Saturday.

[Kitten]

My bank is open all day Saturday. Always has been. Not sure why there's a big Halifax thing about doing what the customer wants when NatWest & Abbey have been doing so for years and years!

[vix]

Think of the employees :(

[Will]

A lot of people nowadays see the weekend as just another day in the office. :(

[Kitten]

See that wouldn't bother me much, I grew up with a policeman and a radiologist for parents so 24/7 'on call' jobs.

Weekends were generally just normal days for us, as was Christmas, Easter, etc... and for most of their friends. So was 9-5, they were very rarely both in the house with me of an evening.

As a result, I like my weekends though. Prefer not to work if I can help it. Am lucky now that I don't have to.

[Jonny69]

I guess the days when all shops (bar the corner shop, maybe) closed on a Sunday are before your time! ;D
And Wednesday afternoons ;D

[Blighter]

Think of the employees :(

I know lots of people, including me, that would actually quite like to do a Sunday night shift.

Most of them would probably be students, in which case it is a win-win!