billymacker

why have the shops open on a night when they go to bed at 7 30-8pm

kiwinow

I find it amusing that I am living in small town NZ and thinking, "Well, one day Oz will catch up."

For many years overseas comedians joked about NZ being shut for the weekend. Back in the 70s/80s it was shut for the weekend. Now however, most supermarkets and the larger chain stores are open all weekend, the supermarkets and liquor stores are open until 8-9pm most nights and we've had daylight saving for about 30 years. I'm thinking Oz is so far behind and yet perhaps they just decided to go against the grain and decide what's important for themselves. We used to shop once a week. We used to have one late night a week and most people had a weekend off to enjoy. Have we progressed?

moneypenny20

It's certainly not the case around here. Late night shopping, Open until 6 on Sundays, open 9-5 public holidays etc etc.

NickyC

When I first came to Australia (in 1979) I loathed the fact that all the shops in Sydney shut at noon on a Saturday. I was told to think myself lucky because in NZ they were shut for the whole weekend.

It was only a few years later (1983?) that shops here went from one extreme to the other. They changed from closing at noon on Saturday to practically never closing at all.

It's not the whole of Australia that has these old-fashioned opening hours - it's just WA.

ABCDiamond

Some Perth opening hours:

Woolworths Supermarket, 166 Murray Street, Perth Target Department Store, 712 - 720 Hay Street, PerthMyer City Department Store, 200 Murray Street, Perth.

benlast

Well, IGAs are open 7 days, and I think most are also open late.

Apart from our local one in North Beach because there was a fire...

Cheers
b

irishbloo

IGA in Mundaring is open 7 days a week,24 hours a day.Might be a bit far for some to go for a packet of tim tams but its still open.

sue1964

I work in retail and did the extra late nights over the Xmas period I would like to know where all the people were who want late night trading.It was so bad most in the shopping centre closed at normal hours as no people shopping.I would like to go to a travel agents on a SAturday but closed.Visit the dentist and doctors in the evening but most closed.
I myself do not want late night trading as I have a family and have family things to do.Bad enough trying to get enough time with the family when we close at 5.30pm.
Food shopping plenty of places to get it IGA open till 9pm.

mad.chef

I remember when there was a rota on Sundays for getting petrol, you had to drive around and look for an A board in the road giving directions of the nearest garage open!!

Sarah

stm1971

One of the things I noticed in my area this xmas just gone was that by mid Dec in a lot of the shops many of the shelves were empty and what was left was not worth buying. Maybe this was why there were not many people around.

I personally would like more choice than just IGA open until 9.00pm and to have at least one more late night shopping day. It always seems as if everyman man, woman, child and their dogs shop on Thursday nights around here, it is so busy. Not pleasant.

boom_meringue

The thing that really pisses me off about the shop opening hours debate are the number of sanctimonious windbags who are up in arms about the suggestion of longer hours, when it wouldn't affect them.

You don't HAVE to work if your shop is open longer hours; if there is trade to make it viable, then the shop owner can afford more staff. The guy who owns Coles wants to open hypermarkets here similar to the supermarkets in the UK but he is not prepared to at the moment because of the antiquated opening hours.

Longer hours=more jobs and more choice. If you don't like it, shop when the rest of us are at work.

hoveactually

All these stores are in the City which, I believe, is classified as a "tourist precinct", hence the extended hours. There was talk, before the state elections, of Joondalup being similarly classified to enable Sunday opening. However, this seems to have fallen by the wayside with the change of Premier.

Swerv-o

Because at midnight, the store isn't full of parents with screaming, illbehaved children running amok, there are plenty of reduced bargains to be had, and the queues are more than reasonable.

The same cannot be said about Saturday afternoon.

Late night trading is fantastic, especially for people who lead busy lives, but also have the flexibility to head to the shops later on.


S

ABCDiamond

Abstract from The West Australian

MarkMC

I am currently working for ericsson, supporting the boxes that run 3 mobile. 1 week in 5, I am on call 24/7. So If I can do it, I don't see why the shop workers cant manage.

Also, while I was still at school, I worked in Texas (not the country, it was like Bunnings) at the weekend, weekend and late opening will suit some workers.