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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think some large supermarkets should be open until 8pm

387 replies

jnfrrss · 15/04/2018 21:34

Fed up of getting back on a Sunday after a busy hetic weekend and having to do my shop at a Tesco garage.

There's three large supermarkets in my town and all close at 4pm on a Sunday. Why can't at least one do an evening shift?

After being used to Scottish shops it really sucks in England. Sunday evening would be perfect for me to do a shop. I just dont like online shopping either, but if they have to work Sunday late evenings why is it so different for the shop workers?

OP posts:
Iggii · 15/04/2018 23:24

SoyDora Sun 15-Apr-18 22:51:22
notmyprooername as mentioned above, it’s the law currently because the SNP vetoed the extension of our opening hours

Well. The SNP did vote against, along with the Labour Party and about 20 Conservative rebels but let's not waste an opportunity to blame the Scots.

Iggii · 15/04/2018 23:27

(My closest Tescos will be open solidly from now till Christmas Eve)

Andrewofgg · 15/04/2018 23:29

Businesses which cater to their customers’ leisure needs have to set their hours accordingly. And nowadays retail is part of the leisure trade and the law will eventually have to recognise that.

There is IME a strong correlation between opposition to Sunday trading and support for more and better public transport - and trains and buses don’t drive themselves, do they?

And of course if you want fresh produce and newspapers on Monday morning some poor sod has to drive through the night to get them to you . . .

AlpacaLypse · 15/04/2018 23:33

I have been trying to arrange a day when everyone can be in the same place at the same time for nearly three months now. A Sunday would work... if only four of the family weren't on shifts. Two of them are emergency services so totally understandable - but the other two are shop workers and pretty junior and trying to get Sunday off is proving to be rather like finding hen's teeth for both of them. Still no sign of everyone being able to get together any earlier than September at the moment.

SadieHH · 15/04/2018 23:34

YANBU. It’s irritating and pointless these days. Yes of course we could do our shopping another day and mostly I do but life doesn’t always work like that. We’ve just got back from being away. I’ve had to spend more in the Tesco express than I would have spent in the bigger supermarket getting just the basics. Utterly ridiculous to cling onto these archaic rules.

Findingdotty · 15/04/2018 23:36

YABU. I was the shops weren’t open on Sundays at all. My husband and I are both in jobs that require weekend working. It sucks and it ruins family life. As many people as possible deserves a day a week that they know they will have off with the whole family. It builds relationships and strengthens families.
Just organise yourself better to shop during the other 6 days or the other 6 hours that the big supermarkets are open on Sundays.Hmm

runningoutofjuice · 15/04/2018 23:41

Lol at not being a religious country op! We have a state religion. Why do you think schools have to have religious assemblies or parliament have daily prayers? No 'normal' countries do this. Dis-establish the church and Sunday trading restrictions will have no reason to exist Smile

giggly · 15/04/2018 23:44

Really! I had no idea that English supermarkets shut that early. I do my weekly shopping every Sunday’s night about 8pm. When I lived in Australia I nearly passed out to find thebig supermarkets shut at midday on a Sunday Confused all to easy to say you have all week to do the shopping.

giggly · 15/04/2018 23:48

Oh and I am nurse and frequently work weekends so have no family time with my dc so that old chestnut doesn’t wash with me.

Duck90 · 15/04/2018 23:48

Really. This is strange. So people object to Sunday later opening. But 24 hr shopping for the rest of the week is okay?

do you mind that waitresses/chefs are still serving on Sunday evenings?

Weezol · 15/04/2018 23:54

Do none of you own fridges or freezers?

Happyland8 · 15/04/2018 23:56

The thing is, there are some people who want to work weekends (students to name one group) and others who don't. I do believe employers should try to manage this as effectively as possible to give people time off as and when they need it.

Years ago, work was 9-5 Monday to Friday in office type work; these days the office never sleeps. With mobiles, laptops, emails etc, some people are working insane hours through the week and still having to work over the weekend, making "do your shopping another day" that bit harder. Its all walks of life where unsociable hours are expected to be worked. Convenient shopping hours are more important now than ever before.

blackteasplease · 15/04/2018 23:56

I just think in theory people can make shifts work for them etc but in reality employers will stiff badly paid workers. And it is good for there to be sometime thst people fan guarantee being off.

If restautamts and the like closed at 4 on Sunday I wouldn't care either! Hotels I would.mind if they weren't open.sunday night I accept.

NoSquirrels · 15/04/2018 23:59

They could close all day on Tuesday and Thursday for all I care for a break, but Sunday is such a useful day.

For you. But not for others, necessarily.

Fair enough you find it annoying. But you have options. A whole week's worth of options, in fact. Plus online shops to be delivered at your convenience, even late at night on a Sunday, even if that means you can't shop at Lidl or Aldi. Are you really away every weekend Friday to Sunday? Most things don't in fact have a shelf life of just a few days - and if they do, like meat, you freeze it and get it out to defrost when you need it.

I can see it is a bit annoying. I can see you didn't know about Sunday trading laws and you're used to Scotland. But I do think YABabitU.

BeefyCakes · 15/04/2018 23:59

If you don't like it, petition to have the law changed.

GnotherGnu · 16/04/2018 00:17

Its enough of an effort to drive 4 hours home on a Sunday without taking some detour to do a mad rush just before 4pm to get shopping

Why is it a mad rush? Why not shop before you leave, or leave half an hour earlier? Is there seriously no other day in the week when you can find time to shop, whether during the daytime or in the evening?

I must say, there's nothing I would hate more after a 4 hour drive than to have to flog round a supermarket.

TutTutButt · 16/04/2018 00:34

it is annoying and they are always high in price for everything

ClumsyFool · 16/04/2018 00:46

I work in retail and don’t actually do a shorter shift on a Sunday I just start and finish earlier. I don’t really have strong feelings either way and I fully expect that at some point we will go to Sunday being a normal trading day. I do feel however that if we go that way then I don’t really understand why shops but not banks/gp surgeries etc, a shop is surely no more essential than any of those.
I have to say though, while working weekends can sometimes be a pain (I’m fortunate enough to only do every other) I actually do quite like having a day off during the mon-fri week as it makes it easier for things like Drs appts, must be difficult to manage when you work the standard mon-fri office hours as many other services only offer those hours also. So weekend working does definitely have it’s advantages.

80sMum · 16/04/2018 01:02

The Sunday trading laws in England are bizarre! There are two grocery stores in the village where I live. One is allowed to open for only 6 hours on a Sunday, the other is permitted to open for 14 hours. The difference between the two? Square footage. The smaller store can open, the larger cannot. Bonkers, imo!

pigsDOfly · 16/04/2018 01:17

When I was young all shops, except small corner shops, closed at 5.30 every evening, closed every Wednesday or Thursday (varied from town to town) at 12.30 pm and then closed at 12.30 on Saturday and stay closed until Monday morning.

Somehow we all managed to buy everything we needed and nobody starved.

Yes, I know life is more hectic now and we all live 24 hour lives. But it is possible to exist without access to shops 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

sweeneytoddsrazor · 16/04/2018 01:38

Doing your shopping another day isn't possible if you often leave Friday straight from school and come back Sunday. Many things only have a few days shelf life.

Being able to spend time with the family like this isn't possible for most supermarket workers. In many supermarkets now staff have to do either a Sat or Sun shift most weekends. And you can't have a family day if the kids are at school.

Bekabeech · 16/04/2018 06:42

When the Government relaxed Sunday trading laws during the London Olympics it turned out there wasn't that much demand for longer hours. In fact I think some shops tried them and went back to normal hours.

It is English Law. If I complained about some aspect of living in another country like this I would be rightly told to "put up with it" as it's how things are done there.

I have far more sympathy with shop workers who might want to see their children for a bit on the Weekend, that people who can afford to go away each weekend and can't find the time to do their shopping during the week. Especially as there are convenience stores where you can still shop on a Sunday evening (including some Tesco's and Sainsbury's).

SinceWhenDid · 16/04/2018 06:51

@CadyHeron thanks for answering. Sounds like a nice early night to me! 😄

SharronNeedles · 16/04/2018 06:54

Ffs, it's hardly a surprise each week is it?
It's been this way for years! Just do your shopping on other evenings or Sunday day time. Hardly the end of the world.

Oblomov18 · 16/04/2018 06:54

Actually I disagree and think we should go back to the old 1/2 day closing on a Wednesday and none on a Sunday!

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