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Original poster

No customers visit supermarket during extended hours before Xmas

32 replies

Loppp · 19/12/2025 07:33

Worked in the supermarket for 11 years. We close at 9pm 6 days a week (not Sunday). The week before Xmas, head office insists that the store opens til 11pm. I have not heard heard of any colleague mentioning they had customers entering after 9pm. Not even 22/23 Dec

It’s very frustrating as we have to change our hours from moving from busy hours 10-2 then 5-7 to nobody turns up. There are 3 colleagues per night taking it in turns to stand in the kiosk bored, for security reasons. The other two put out delivery or check the overs. There are other colleagues but they are not trained on the kiosk/CSD.

Surely head office have the breakdown of sales of each hour. They would see zero or a few quid from colleagues buying milk etc after their shift (they could ignore colleagues as the discount shows).

Its my day of 11pm finish tonight and hating it

OP posts:
tanstaafl · 19/12/2025 07:46

There's benefit for the morning shift as there’s stock being put out for two hours 9-11.

I imagine there’s more stock being delivered at this time of year too.

ToKittyornottoKitty · 19/12/2025 07:42

Must be a very small supermarket in an unusually quiet place. But it sounds like this has been normal
practice for a long time, pointless getting annoyed about it, we all have to deal with stuff we don’t want to at work.

TheCurious0range · 19/12/2025 07:42

It's it a supermarket if it's only 3 staff? Surely that's a local/express/convenience store. I left Tesco at 10pm last night and it was busy. Our small local Sainsbury's, co-op, Tesco express etc are always open until midnight and the Tesco express garage is open 24hrs.
Your shop needs to advertise properly

Luxio · 19/12/2025 07:41

I find it almost impossible to believe that no one visits the store between 9-11 unless people don't actually know it's open at that time?

Maraudingmarauders · 19/12/2025 07:40

When I used to work in retail we did extended hours over the Xmas period, but we did an analysis each year to see whether it had been worthwhile vs other costs. It surprises me a business would continue to offer something that cost them more than it earned.

TheTowerAtMidnight · 19/12/2025 07:39

I find this hard to believe, are you in a very small town or something?

IDontDrinkTea · 19/12/2025 07:34

Honestly, they clearly need to advertise it better. From a customers perspective being able to shop til 11 is much much easier for me as a shift worker than it closing at 9, so I’d suspect the public just don’t know