To think other supermarkets should follow Waitrose lead and close on Boxing Day

[Sparklybaublefest]

So hard on the workers.
My Asda is open from 8 am on boxing day, not even sunday hours.

So hard on the workers.

But fuck chefs and hospitality workers, theatre and stadium staff, etc........

I would imagine that they only open because it 'pays' for them to be open. Given the number of shops in the high street that are closing I suspect they have to get as much profit as they can when they can.

I think they should stay closed however the demand is there so 🤷‍♀️

If you don't agree don't go shopping!

Some workers like working as they get extra money I know I used to

Just bought from theM&S sale online, and as the things won’t be delivered until new year no one will have to work to pack and post them to me.

Yeah, but that's not true at all @Havaina

The reason it takes so long for delivery is because of all the bank holidays and how busy it is this time of year, not because there's nobody working on those days.

People will still be working to get your order picked - it'll either come from a shop (in which case someone will need work to pick it, package it up and post it), or the warehouse, in which case someone still needs to pick it and get it sorted to send out to you.

Then someone needs to work in IT to make sure website is running and that any issues are sorted. They also need people working in Customer Services to sort the orders and to make sure everything gets sent to the right address and that any mistakes are rectified.

Where I am, online orders hit the shops as soon as we open on Boxing Day - that means people are working in store, in the warehouse, in Customer services and more are on-call from home to make sure everything runs to plan.

Oh and that's not forgetting all the delivery drivers/postmen/depot workers who will be working hard to make sure everything arrives to you on time.

The only reason delivery times are longer during sale/Christmas periods is that it's so busy we can't guarantee things arriving as quickly as usual. Orders can easily sit in shops for 3-4 days before getting packaged and processed because we simply don't have the time to do it before then.

I’m working Boxing Day and I’m looking forward to it. We even get a free lunch .

I used to work IT support for a large retailer on Christmas Day (airport stores were trading) and Boxing Day. I never minded it too much, it was triple time on the 25th and double on the 26th and I never got too many calls because everyone was too busy manning the tills. Also used to do Boxing Day every year in the flagship store on Oxford Street before I transferred out of the stores and it was generally absolutely bonkers, but pretty good fun.

Our local Tesco is closed tomorrow though, which I'm pleased about for friends who work there.

Tetran - well the people at the pub or restaurant are with family and friends, but the staff working aren't.

Yes, but if they were ALL shut on Boxing Day, surely they'd make that same money the next day?

You have disregarded online shopping. Retailers will take a significant financial hit by closing on 26th and opening on 27th as you suggest, in the meantime a significant amount of customers will shop online instead. They won’t make the “same” money on the 27th, so it’s poor business acumen to close.

Now your idea might be okay if instead of going into a Next shop, people order from Next online. But it’s much more likely people will shop at Amazon and other online-only retailers and forego the high street completely. Have you forgotten about the sheer amount of brands that have disappeared from the high street or gone into administration, or the surviving companies that have closed a significant amount of stores?

Boxing Day has turned into a shopping phenomenon, so it is an extremely important day for in-store retailers, you’re asking them to close on one of the most significant turnover days for them.

Eh- I dont know why people are suddenly all so upset about shops being open on Boxing day. I was speaking to the guy behind the checkout at tescos yesterday and he said he WANTS to work on Boxing day as by then he's had enough of his family and wants to get out. MANY people like working on Boxing day so its not really true to imply people are being dragged out of their beds and forced to work like some Victorian work house. Also, a LOT of people get paid extra on Boxing day so they like to work it.

I always liked working over the holidays. Not everyone has lovely family gatherings to go to, and some who do are still very happy to work for the extra cash. If the shops had been shut all the days people suggest they be shut back when I was working retail I’d have been alone for days with no spare cash to treat myself.

Not to mention there’s no shortage of people in the UK who don’t celebrate Christmas at all and have to work all their important holidays without any extra pay because they’re just treated like normal days. If you did all your Christmas shopping in November you almost certainly were keeping some people from Diwali celebrations, and if you did any last minute Christmas shopping this week then there’s a decent chance you kept someone away from Hanukkah celebrations.

Not everyone has lovely family gatherings to go to

Agree 100%. Not everyone is lucky enough to have a supportive, caring family around them and its a bit privileged to assume this is the case.
For many people, Christmas day be a lonely, depressing experience and extending the alone time for yet more days seems a bit unfair on them.

Supermarkets in each town should get together, like chemists do, and agree a rota for Boxing Day.
They could take it in turns so each gets the profits one year in four or five, and their staff get four years in five off.
Everyone wins.

there’s no shortage of people in the UK who don’t celebrate Christmas at all and have to work all their important holidays without any extra pay because they’re just treated like normal days

But they can book them as holidays using annual leave if they choose.

I work in a supermarket and I have to work tomorrow because it is my rota'd day and I couldn't take it as holiday. In my store the second week of December to first week of January is a holiday blackout so, unless you book a holiday 8/9 months in advance (and who knows 9 months in advance when their child nativity/Carol concert etc are going to be scheduled?), there are no holidays allowed over the festive period.

Fortunately this year my DD is with her dad for Christmas and my parents are visiting my brother's family abroad so I'm joining my sister for Christmas day. It means I dont mind working Boxing Day this year since the usual "Boxing Day extended family get together" is postponed till everyone is back but usually I would miss out on a lot of time with my family.

Also it is not just Boxing Day that is impacted - my store is opening 9-6 and I am working the whole day. Public transport is limited but taxis are expensive (I dont drive) so I will have to leave home at 8am so I'll need to be up at 7am to have time to shower/get dressed etc ... in order to get a good night's sleep I will be in bed by midnight so need to be leaving my sister's at 11pm. I also cannot deal with a full day of complaints (I work on customer services) hungover so will have to limit my drinking after lunch when everyone else is getting merry.

But they can book them as holidays using annual leave if they choose

Then surely people who want Boxing day off can do the same?

What upsets me is the sheer consumerism of our society, which is driving climate change and environmental destruction, where we spend December buying (mostly unnecessary) Christmas presents, take a day off, then hit the sales to buy even more. Then drop all the unwanted presents at the charity shop, who probably can't sell half of it as new stuff is so cheap. All this Stuff is generating carbon emissions in its production, shipping, transport, then a lot will end up in landfill before long. Looking at the fires in Australia, I'm really put off recreational shopping.

Of course we do need to buy some things, I will try and buy one or two items that we need in the sale in the next week, but really there is no rush for anyone to be shopping tomorrow.

Why just shops...why not pubs, resturants cinemas etc..
I think there's a sense that you could just as easily buy shoes on any day, so if the sales start on 27th you would buy then instead. Whereas a boxing day lunch out can only be eaten on boxing day, and people might not go out for lunch on 27th. Also in restaurants you can show your appreciation by tipping! However I would also support food industry staff getting the day off, and we spend boxing day at home and wouldn't expect restaurants to be open.

It isn't just that they miss boxing day at home - it may make seeing their family difficult on christmas day if they have to travel far, and impossible if they don't drive and trains are off.

I feel sorry for the Next staff starting at the crack of dawn on boxing day, can you really relax on Christmas day?

Lidl isn't open on boxing day either, don't think Waitrose are the leading example of this

M&S haven’t opened Boxing Day for as long as I can remember

Then surely people who want Boxing day off can do the same?

Did you not read the rest of my post where I said holidays over the festive period are often impossible to get?

My store has a holiday blackout for December and I have friends who work for other retailers who have similar policies.

Did you not read the rest of my post where I said holidays over the festive period are often impossible to get

In every work place I have ever worked which involved working on Christmas (NHS, retail, and service industry), there was a rota system to make it fair. If you worked one Christmas, you got the next one off. Or, you got Christmas off and worked new year instead. As I said, I know a lot of people who WANT to work on Boxing day and would volunteer for that because they get extra pay. So I simply dont agree that loads of people are being forced to work. All the supermarkets are shut on Christmas day anyway so people can spend that day with family if they so wish. If some people cannot get holiday for Boxing day then ok- they have to work. I have had to work plenty of times when I didnt want to (eg after my mum died, I only got a week off etc) so I guess I'm not sure why I should be up in arms about it shrug its one day.

Then surely people who want Boxing day off can do the same?

No, they can't. Annual leave is banned from the middle of December until the end of January. Everyone in my shop has to work Boxing Day - it's in your contract that you come in, even if it's not your contracted day. It's so busy that we can't afford to have anyone off.

Plenty of other retail/hospitality workers are in a similar position. It's not as easy as just being organised and booking holiday early.

Surely people can manage to get through TWO days without shopping? It really is ridiculous. Give us a break from the constant shop, shop, shopping.

Just got back from the US - they have literally one day off - Christmas Day - then back to work as normal. They have the right idea - not 2 whole weeks of doing nothing.

^^ not many people get 2 weeks off doing nothing! We are talking 2 days here.

I cant wait to go shopping tomorrow.
The Lush sale!

Just got back from the US - they have literally one day off - Christmas Day - then back to work as normal. They have the right idea - not 2 whole weeks of doing nothing.

Very few people in the UK get two weeks off!