To think most shops should be shut on Sundays

[withthefeelignofgreece]

I have family in Jersey and over there most shops are shut on a Sunday.
AIBU to think this could be a good idea to introduce here in the UK?
It would give retail workers a Sunday off every week from having to work.

I agree, perhaps small shops or food only shops open. Maybe the four Sundays before Christmas and July/August have them all open.

There is more to life than shopping.

Some people want to work weekends because they study, or have anothr job, or have childcare, or maybe just prefer days off in the week when it's quieter.

When I worked retail, I much preferred weekends because it was busy and my shifts flew in. When I did quiet weekdays they used to drag.

Nowadays, if I couldnt get to the high street on weekends, I wouldn't go at all and then they're not getting my custom.

Shops don't open until when?

Is that in England?

It would probably be the last nail in the coffin of The Highstreet As We Know It. I am old enough to remember when the shops were closed on a Sunday, weekends were pretty shit as mum and dad worked mon-fri so everything had to be done on Saturday. At least it it happened now you can buy online, but shopping centers wouldn't survive.

The thing that really made me :o about retail now is how many stores rely on either 0 hours or only employed part time workers. It seems to be very difficult to get a guaranteed full time income from working retail, where when I was young I knew plenty of friends parents who worked full time at the supermarket etc.

If you want more people to shop online then sure. I’m sure Amazon will still do next day delivery on a Sunday. It’s a hard enough world in retail at the moment and in the early 90’s next day delivery wasn’t part of the competition.

Retail is essentially another leisure activity, unless you’re also wanting restaurants, cinemas, leisure centres, pubs to close to give the staff a Sunday off. Personally, I’d rather Sunday trading laws were totally scrapped.

God no! Do you have any idea how mind-numbingly boring the 80s were?

No thanks. I'm not religious, and I get paid more for Sunday working, so I'll stick with the current situation.

Feel free not to go to the shops on a Sunday though.

YABU

I remember the shops and indeed most things being shut on a Sunday when I was a kid and it was as boring as shit.

I think England’s Sunday opening hours are ridiculous too. Our supermarkets in Scotland generally open as normal, maybe shutting at 7/8 pm instead of 10, unless they are 24 hour ones.

Plenty of people have to work Sundays I don’t see what makes shop staff so special.

Sunday is my only day off so when would I do my shopping?

It's a terrible idea and we used to have it. We should keep religion and the state separate.

Sunday hours should be longer. Students and those who want second jobs can work Sundays. Those who need childcare can work weekdays. Some small businesses would be better off closing on a weekday instead.

Shops above a certain size already do shut on a Sunday.

My niece works weekends and the back shift in retail. It suits her family, otherwise they would have really struggled with childcare costs. It also means other family who work normal office hours can help them out with childcare too.

So don’t go shopping on a Sunday

As someone who works in retail, this is the dream. Shops are open far too long nowadays. Plenty of options for people to shop at different times.

Will never happen though. Shops make too much money on a Sunday.

Not in every country of the UK.

Doesn't happe in Scotland

I think YABU to expect that, yes. When I was growing up, shops shut at midday on Satuday and nothing was open at all on Sunday. That being said, working patterns have changed, childcare requirements have changed and, frankly, expectations have changed.

Lots of retail workers still work when shops are closed.

Absolutely not. It would make far more sense to close shops on a week day given that most people are at work themselves and don’t go.

Having spent the majority of the last 3 years on maternity leave I can personally attest to how completely empty many shops are on a weekday morning. Total ghost town, whereas Saturday morning … packed!

why reduce prime weekend shopping time when you could reduce wasted weekday hours?

We ran a small shop in a city centre for 30 years from 1988. When we started we closed on Sundays and most bank holidays, which gave us time off with the kids, and in November and December we could go in on Sundays and prepare stock for the busy week ahead. Retail was getting busier through the 90s, so there was a push from the bug retailers to open on Sundays, which was eventually agreed, and in England hours were restricted to 6 hours trading for larger stores (over 1,000 sq ft) for the benefit of the staff. For us it was a pita. We lost our Sundays off, there was no extra business, as at the same time more out of town centres were opening, which diverted higher spending customers to the retail parks and big centres like the Trafford Centre with free parking. We finally closed in 2018 and in the last 5 years footfall fell by over 25%. Rent and business rates didn't though. I don't think we should go back to Sunday closing. The genie is out of the bottle, and with online shopping, it would just hasten the decline of our shops.

The only days shops over a certain size (280 sqm) have to shut are Easter Sunday & Christmas Day. Otherwise they can open for any 6 consecutive hours between 10am & 6pm

Pubs used to close at 2.00pm on Sundays, and reopen at 7.00pm. We would have days out with the kids, returning home at 4.00ish and would have given our right arm to be able to go yo a pub with a beer garden for a bite to eat, but everywhere was closed.

Literally the only day I have to do my grocery shop is a Sunday! I would be seriously hacked off if they shut!

plus I don’t think they will, they’re always really busy when I go & I have 2 friends that work in retail
& they love working Sundays because it’s a boring day& have Saturday or Fri off instead!

I worked in retail until recently and absolutely hated working weekends. We should go back to shops being shut Sunday.
I don't believe people who say it's their only day to go shopping, unless you work Monday to Saturday from 6 in the morning until 10 or 11 at night and most have delivery options and some are open 24 hours.