Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be sickened with the commercial greed on boxing day

64 replies

pinkmagic1 · 27/12/2011 17:28

I love to shop and love a bargain as much as the next women but was saddened that more shops than ever opened their doors on boxing day and some at the crack of dawn. I felt so sorry for the shop workers as I have worked in retail and understand the pressure some may have been put under to work even when they didn't really want to. I think it is getting really greedy and sad if shops can't shut for just 2 days in the entire year and let their staff celebrate Christmas with their families. I didn't enter a shop yesterday out of principle. What do others think about boxing day opening?

OP posts:
CotherMuckingFunt · 27/12/2011 18:21

Where abouts are you Dreaming? I'm in Brittany and when I went shopping on Christmas eve I had half a carpark to choose from and room to run in the isles with dd in a car trolley.

I didn't go to the shops yesterday but friends have told me they were just like normal. Although where we are (I don't know about the rest of France) they have strict rules on when they can have sales.

BleurghUna · 27/12/2011 18:36

YANBU. I love a bargain too but no way would I shop on boxing day. Trouble is, the shops are desperate for our cash. People have more opportunities to shop than ever before but less money to spend. Something's got to give - if they hire extra staff and pay them double time and slash prices do they actually make any profits?!

yellowraincoat · 27/12/2011 18:40

What I don't understand about the sales is that a. there are sales year round these days, pretty much every time you go into a shop, there are a lot of reduced items and b. you can buy everything cheap on the internet. Now I know not everyone has the internet, but the vast majority do and since you can get everything you need on ebay or amazon, I just don't see the need to go out on a specific day to buy things.

A lot of the time, things aren't that reduced anyway. I want stuff to be £2 before I buy.

ClutchingAtMyPearls · 27/12/2011 18:43

I haven't been shopping because I don't want to. I don't suppose anyone is forcing all those shoppers to go out and spend their money are they? And as for working Boxing Day I bet you'd be hard pressed to find someone who was actively unhappy about it. They don't have to do it you know!

dreamingbohemian · 27/12/2011 19:00

Salut Cother!

Am in Nantes, which according to some people is still in Brittany Grin

Have been seeing mobs in the food shops but the regular shops haven't looked too mad... we'll see how the January sales look!

CotherMuckingFunt · 27/12/2011 19:03

Oooo you're on the other side Grin

You're about 1.5 hours from us in the BIG TOWN

Meglet · 27/12/2011 19:04

Yanbu. I refused to do it when I worked in retail, we never got extra pay for it, just a day off in lieu. Have never shopped on Boxing Day myself.

Bogeyface · 27/12/2011 19:08

I dont get the sheer desperation of owning a pair of jeans with a few quid knocked off, that would propel a normally sane person into a queue outside Next at 4:30 am.

There will be the same number of people shopping if they open at 9 am surely, if not more?!

dreamingbohemian · 27/12/2011 19:14

Grin Cother

I know, we have an Ikea AND H&M! Spoiled rotten we are.

CotherMuckingFunt · 27/12/2011 19:17

I may never 'speak' to you againWink

We have a Distri Centre and... umm... some supermarkets.

Vannes 20 mins away but Kiabi is as good as it gets Sad

lljkk · 27/12/2011 19:23

I comprehend wanting to spend Xmas money & the tangible experience of being in shops to touch your goods & the scent of a bargain, shared with crowds, or the hunt for the unknown bargain even, but...

there will be some people who needed new things and could only afford them in the sale

What do they need that would only be available in the sale? Genuine question. Next year's wrapping paper? A new 32" telly? Yet another pair of pseudo-designer jeans?

lljkk · 27/12/2011 19:24

Cother re France: they have strict rules on when they can have sales

What are the rules?

dreamingbohemian · 27/12/2011 19:25

Oof, that's rough

Surely you deserve a trip to the big city sometime soon? Wink

CotherMuckingFunt · 27/12/2011 19:36

Well dreaming, both my kids are at school now so I feel you may have a point! Is it scary there? Are there things like, traffic lights and, what are they called, ah yes, other road users?

llijkk I'd love to be able to tell you but I have no idea! I on'y ever find out about the sales when people tel me what bargains they've bought, by which time they're over! All I know is that there are only certain times of the year when they're allowed to have sales. Things are allowed to be reduced any time but an actual sale with sale advertisements are regulated. I'll try and find out more...

CotherMuckingFunt · 27/12/2011 19:39

I found this:

"Trading laws stipulate that there are two periods for sales in France. Winter sales from January to February and summer sales from June to July. In each case, the sales last for five weeks. All goods on sale must have been in the shop for a minimum of thirty days prior to the sale date ? no buying in cheap stock and selling it as a sale item. Reductions must be visibly displayed in percentage terms. labels must also show the old pre sale price and the new sale price. Retaiers are allowed to reduce their prices three times in the sales ? after the first fortnight, and again in the final week.

Outside the official sale periods, retailers are allowed two weeks in the year, to use at their discretion, for extra sales such as pre-christmas sales or spring sales."

and this

TararaBOOMdeay · 27/12/2011 19:41

YANBU.

I was fuming that our local Tesco was open for cynical money grubbing business but they couldn't be arsed opening the pharmacy to provide a full out-of-hours service.
I ended up having to drive across town to find a chemist to dispense poorly ds's antibiotic prescription from the walk-in centre. Xmas Angry

ScorpionQueen · 27/12/2011 19:45

I'm amazed anyone has any money left for the sales. I'm all spent out after Christmas and the tightening of the purse strings starts now.
:)

dreamingbohemian · 27/12/2011 19:52

Yes Cother but don't worry, no one drives over 30 here, you'd have plenty of time to get out of the way...

However we do have a tram...

CotherMuckingFunt · 27/12/2011 19:55

Ooo la laaaa! C'est très chic là-bas dans la grande ville!

fatlazymummy · 27/12/2011 20:22

According to the Daily Mail, many of the shoppers are foreigners, taking advantage of the weak pound [don't understand this bit myself].
I do feel sorry for retail workers if they are forced to work Boxing day against their wishes, but it goes both ways. It may mean survival for some shops, hence saving those workers jobs.
Personally shopping in the boxing day sales would be my worst nightmare. I don't actually need or want anything, so why bother going shopping?

itsbrandybutterandtinseltime · 27/12/2011 20:26

YANBU. I had a friend on FB who updated her status at 8am Boxing Day saying she was standing in a queue to get into Next. WTF?! How are you that bored?! Next isn't even that good.

I was a bit saddened by it tbh, have you not got anything better to do?

dreamingbohemian · 27/12/2011 20:32

Mais oui! Mais la vie dans la compagne est tres tranquil et jolie, si je vous envie!

Dites-moi si vous venez a Nantes Smile

dreamingbohemian · 27/12/2011 20:33
CotherMuckingFunt · 27/12/2011 20:41

Will do Smile

Marshy · 27/12/2011 20:43

What about those people being trampled for a pair of trainers? Sickening.

Swipe left for the next trending thread