======= Date Modified 26 Aug 2008 16:18:19 =======
How do shops like Spar, Jacksons and other small supermarket/cornershops open all day on Sundays? How are they an exception to the 6 hour law?

I wonder what the view on that would be now some 22 years later--I don't see very many people attending church in the few times I have gone to an Anglican service in the UK--its not the shopping thats keeping them away! I think lots of people work odd or shift or weekend hours, somehow hospitals remain open, for instance, and it would not take a lot of staff to keep a store open in the evening and night hours. Not all people, for that matter, do work a 9-5 or whatever job, and so for those people who do shift work it might be nicer to have the option of shopping at night or other extended hours.

I can understand that people have reasons that they do not think that 24/7 shopping is a good idea, but, speaking only for my own convenience, I think its a good thing.

They circumvent the 6 hr rule by building their store under 3000 sq ft. When the law first came out, shops put up interior walls to shrink themselves.

Missspacey - Ah I see, thats interesting. Although, I don't see why size should matter if its a 'trading' law. ;-)

Good grief! If stores like the ones mentioned do enough business to justify staying open on Sunday, it does make you think the entire reasons for restricted trading on Sundays should be re-looked at in terms of the needs of a contemporary society. The idea of an 9-5 worker is not a reality for many people. Some people telecommute, other people may work really long or irregular hours, for others it may simply be preferrable to be able to do shopping on a Sunday--think of parents who have to take children to or from day care, or to or from school activities, who has time to cram a shopping trip into a packed schedule during the week, with tired and hungry children to boot for example? And why restrict hours on a Sunday--that speaks of a Christian heritage where people go to church on Sunday, but again, in contemporary society, you have people of a variety of faiths, not all of which hold their worship on Sundays, and others who do not do any sort of religious or spiritual worship at all. Shutting at Christmas for example may work a hardship on people whose religious tradition might include other days but not Christmas, and they have to get special permission to be away for those days. The whole idea of restricted shopping hours especially on a Sunday seems like an anacronism.

(up)(up) Thanks for all the replies in this thread anyway, I think everyone deserves a star for being a helpful user!

I think it's worse for pub staff: they have to work all weekend and usually Christmas Day and New Year's Eve too. There was always a lot of bad feeling about who got time off at Christmas when I worked in those places.

Thanks for the star 8-)

I would rather work on a Sunday and have Friday-Saturday off. :p(up)

Yes, that is a good point--those places do stay open!!! Do the pubs have to be smaller than 3,000 square feet? ;-)

You'll be suggesting we abandon the word Christmas and have a 'Winter Holiday' instead next. I'm giving you enough rope here, in case you didn't realise.

Please! I think its possible to have 24/7 grocery stores and still have Christmas. Its not an either or choice is it? I think that calling Christmas a Winter Holiday is insane, because its not a winter holiday, its still obviously Christmas, so why pretend its not? That is the reason those specific days are being taken as holidays. Frankly, personally, I think learning about the holidays of other cultures and religions is fascinating, from Kwanzaa to Chinese New Year, etc, etc. Why strip a day of its tradition and meaning and call it something else?!

The Puritans that went to America I think banned Christmas celebrations, and if memory serves me, but it might not, I think in the Cromwell period that Christmas celebrations were also banned from Great Britain. The Puritans that went to America were considered too extreme even by the standards of the Cromwell Protestants.

Holidays, festivals, celebrations of all sorts are enjoyable and are an important part of the social fabric of a community and a culture. They should not in my opinion be stripped of their meaning and history.

But we could still have 24/7 shops.

Even if you don't agree with holiday/Sunday opening for religious reasons, I think the 'maintaining the fabric of family life' argument is (or should be) a strong one. Yes, we all hated being dragged around to see obscure uncles on a Sunday when we were 5, but I'm going to make my kids do it too! I had a contract for 5 years that included work on most Sundays, and it would have been nice sometimes not to have to.

And here's another reason for not opening on Sunday. It means that shop workers etc 1. can't go out on a Saturday night for a 'heavy one' (this could quite easily lead into a discussion on binge drinking culture I fear), or b. you get served by an irritated and hungover shop assistant on Sunday morning.

I remember Derek Hatton once telling me that he'd be for the idea IF everyone did it (not just shop-workers and the like). Fair enough?

Well, aren't pubs and restaurants and other places open on a Sunday? Their workers might also want to have a heavy drinking session on a Saturday--but I don't think that wanting to let shop workers have a heavy drinking night out is REALLY a reason to not have 24/7 shops? ??? I would hazard a guess that binge drinking is far more a threat to the family life wellbeing in the UK than a shop open on a Sunday. And while I don't want to turn this into a discussion on the binge drinking, you do have to admit its a problem! I know that when the local soccer team has its matches, I do not want to be on the street before, during or after, because of the drunken men lurching down the pavement, often in a belligerent mood, its not at all uncommon for there to be heavy policing in the main streets, at the intersections, etc., you really feel locked into your home and that you daren't go out at all during the soccer matches. As well, its common to see young girls on a Saturday, spilling out of what to me look like their formal gown for the Junior-Senior prom, staggering down the roads and lanes, with their dates dressed down a bit more in a soccer shirt and blue jeans and trainers, all staggeringly drunk....and those are t
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are the ones that are still able to walk! Again, no doubt its wise to avoid the main streets of clubs and pubs, because of the drunken crowds in the streets and spilling out from the clubs and pubs.

But--I think the real question underlying the issue of 24/7 shops is how much government control there should be of the economy. If the government is restricting the hours of business, the questions are why, and to what effect? Some control is not a bad thing, too much control, in my opinion can stifle innovation and ingenuity.