Post by: smurfboy on February 25, 2007, 09:58:10 pm
Not sure if we've had this debate before, but...
Is anyone else a bit pissed off that in 2007, the government is still telling us what time we can go shopping on a Sunday? Shouldn't the individual stores have the freedom to open when they want - and the rest of us some freedom of choice?
Post by: kevvosa on February 25, 2007, 10:13:29 pm
Post by: oldspice on February 26, 2007, 07:01:24 am
Believe it or not there were two reasons stated for making Sunday Trading limited when it was originally allowed.
1) The House of Lords wanted to be sure people had time to go to church on Sundays! Remember, many clergymen, including Bishops sit in the House of Lords.
2) The government had to be mindful of small shops who had traded quite legally for years on Sundays and who might be ruined by the pulling power of the big stores.
At the time I was passionatley against Sunday Trading because my work at the time included a lot of contact with retail groups and because i was a regular church goer.
Post by: on February 26, 2007, 08:36:51 am
Post by: Cherry_Ripe on February 26, 2007, 08:53:30 am
Is anyone else a bit pissed off that in 2007, the government is still telling us what time we can go shopping on a Sunday?
I can't help feeling sorry for the people working on a Sunday in the supermarket, even if they are there willingly and being paid accordingly. Personally I would hate to work at a weekend and have always chosen jobs which do not require weekends. I realise I have been lucky to be able to do that.
I regularly go to the supermarket on a Sunday. It doesn't piss me off that the supermarkets don't open until 10am on a Sunday although it is somewhat annoying that they close at 4pm and do not open again until 8am the following morning.
Post by: Forth Bridges on February 26, 2007, 03:52:04 pm
and on a sunday we have different laws about this aswell up here big store can open unlike in England:
thats because 32 local council don;t believe in Bank hoilday and there 32 local hoildays
Post by: loulou on February 26, 2007, 07:06:57 pm
Post by: smurfboy on February 26, 2007, 07:08:34 pm
How has it changed?
That's exactly my point - it hasn't!
Post by: Forth Bridges on February 26, 2007, 07:09:28 pm
Post by: smurfboy on February 26, 2007, 07:09:40 pm
All the shops should close and make Sunday special again and Britain a better place.
We don't all want religion forced on us.
Post by: kevvosa on February 26, 2007, 08:22:33 pm
All shops should be open 24/7.
It'd surely cost more to do that than the profit they would make from it?
Post by: on February 26, 2007, 08:25:08 pm
Quote from: bounty hunterAll the shops should close and make Sunday special again and Britain a better place.We don't all want religion forced on us.
It's not about religion. It's about society and the community.
Post by: kevvosa on February 26, 2007, 08:26:42 pm
Post by: smurfboy on February 26, 2007, 08:31:19 pm
Quote from: smurfboyQuote from: bounty hunterAll the shops should close and make Sunday special again and Britain a better place.We don't all want religion forced on us.
It's not about religion. It's about society and the community.
There's nothing wrong with a sense of community - I just don't see how being going shopping at 5.05pm on a Sunday would prevent that from existing.
Post by: on February 26, 2007, 09:21:49 pm
Post by: chocadmin on February 26, 2007, 10:42:07 pm
Oooh this has been my pet hate for years. 
The only legitamate reason I've heard against unrestricted sunday hours is that some companies may force employees to work a number of hours at weekends - sundays in particular as part of their contract. I would've thought anybody who felt it impacted their beliefs would have the law on their side though.
We should be able to have a 24/7 society, as Smurfy sez it's 2007 how much longer do we have to wait! Most stores won't do it, but some will (Tesco's loaded so it'll be between them and Asda if given the go ahead).
There's nothing more frustrating than realising you need groceries at 5pm on a Sunday.
The National Consumer Council was supposed to be submitting it as a request to the government (along with a bunch of other things) - didn't hear anything about it though http://nccdev.keymedia.info/cgi-bin/kmdb10.cgi/-load425007_v iewcurrent.htm
We're lucky though, some countries in Europe shut down completely on Sunday!
Post by: loulou on February 26, 2007, 10:54:39 pm
Post by: kevvosa on February 26, 2007, 11:13:32 pm
We're lucky though, some countries in Europe shut down completely on Sunday!
I was going to say - Germany has this I believe.
I prefer shopping mid-week when it's less busy.
Post by: loulou on February 26, 2007, 11:40:27 pm
shopping midweek? i should be so kylie minogue
Post by: kevvosa on February 26, 2007, 11:42:56 pm
Post by: chocadmin on February 26, 2007, 11:47:44 pm
Society in general should dictate what times shops are open not laws. My local dominos opens at 11 (if I remember correctly), this is because it makes sense they are then ready for lunchtime custom (I never knew people bought lunchtime pizza during the week) - there is no law stopping them from opening at 7am even though this would be economically unviable.
Why should Sunday's be 'special' or any other restriction on duration of open hours be allowed. If people think 8am on a Sunday is no good for shopping they won't go and shops will open later as a result (heck thanks to the data mining miracle of loyalty cards they know who's buying what on Sundays).
Unlike perhaps other more dubious practices by retailers I don't think any of us feel compelled to shop at particular times just because that's when the shops are open (if anything the volume of 24/5 stores proves this).
Post by: chocadmin on February 26, 2007, 11:53:49 pm
Post by: loulou on February 27, 2007, 12:07:44 am
Post by: goldencup on February 27, 2007, 12:11:25 am
Post by: smurfboy on February 27, 2007, 12:14:44 am
It has degraded how people interact and undermined their leisure time. Sunday trading is corrosive capitalism. Yes, I do some Sunday shopping but not much.
No one forces people to go shopping. If people would rather go got a walk or a bike ride, read or book, or even go to church, they can. I just think they should have the option to go shopping if they want to as well.
Post by: goldencup on February 27, 2007, 12:16:44 am
Until recently our huge Tesco and Asda stores were both 24 hrs a day apart from Sunday. Asda have now given up on it as it wasn't economically viable and Tesco only have self-service check-outs after 10 pm. I personally won't do this as there has been a lot of bad publicity about the system where you don't even need your PIN to pay by credit card.
Post by: smurfboy on February 27, 2007, 12:25:30 am
Until recently our huge Tesco and Asda stores were both 24/7.
That's not possible under UK law. They could only be 24 hour from Monday morning to Saturday night.
Yes, I know I'm being a pedant.
Post by: goldencup on February 27, 2007, 12:26:02 am
Post by: Cherry_Ripe on February 27, 2007, 08:11:42 am
I live in a town which closes not only on a Sunday but also on a Wednesday afternoon. Internet grocery shops do not deliver to the area so I have to go to the supermarket.
If I realised I needed groceries at 4pm on a Sunday I would wait until the next day to buy them but what annoys me is that the supermarket doesn't open until 8am on Mondays ... not enough time to go there before work.
Our shops open 10am-4pm Sundays and unlike Lou's shops we don't have to wait an hour before we can pay ... what is that about?
Post by: kevvosa on February 27, 2007, 08:52:56 am
Post by: Cherry_Ripe on February 27, 2007, 11:27:33 am
The ice cream was all melted and they didn't put half the things in that I asked for.
OMG Kev that sounds so annoying.
As I mentioned I can't get groceries delivered but I do most of my clothes shopping from catalogues. The courier leaves everything on the front door step because he can't / won't seliver when there is someone home; even if you specify a date and time for delivery he will just dump the stuff if the date / time doesn't suit him. He has been known to throw things over the gate into the garden which would be better than leaving things on the doorstep only he throws them over next door's gate and not mine
Post by: smurfboy on February 27, 2007, 07:01:25 pm
I live in a town which closes not only on a Sunday but also on a Wednesday afternoon. Internet grocery shops do not deliver to the area so I have to go to the supermarket.
If I realised I needed groceries at 4pm on a Sunday I would wait until the next day to buy them but what annoys me is that the supermarket doesn't open until 8am on Mondays ... not enough time to go there before work.
Our shops open 10am-4pm Sundays and unlike Lou's shops we don't have to wait an hour before we can pay ... what is that about?
It's a way of opening for longer. Basically if a store is open for 'browsing' from say 10am, you can fill up your basket or trolley from then on - you just can't pay until 11. Strictly speaking it's legal as they aren't taking any money, and therefore are only 'open' for the six legal hours.
Post by: Cherry_Ripe on February 28, 2007, 08:50:55 am
Quote from: Cherry_RipeOur shops open 10am-4pm Sundays and unlike Lou's shops we don't have to wait an hour before we can pay ... what is that about?It's a way of opening for longer. Basically if a store is open for 'browsing' from say 10am, you can fill up your basket or trolley from then on - you just can't pay until 11. Strictly speaking it's legal as they aren't taking any money, and therefore are only 'open' for the six legal hours.
Wow, I'm glad my local shops don't do that!