Morrison’s closing on Boxing Day

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by Mariesmith

Does this just apply to England?

In Scotland we don't have reduced hours on a Sunday. I don't remember it ever being like that.

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It just applies to England and Wales. The restriction doesn't apply to shops in Scotland.

As you say, I don't think Scotland has ever had any restriction regarding trading on a Sunday. Scotland did introduce the Sunday Working Act which gave workers the right to refuse to work on Sundays (workers in England and Wales already had that right) but that's it.

As well as only being allowed to open for 6 hours on Sunday, large shops in England and Wales are not allowed to open on Easter Sunday and Christmas Day. They can open on any other day.

[Taffy1959]

Originally Posted by duchy

Most of the people who think shops should open Boxing Day aren’t people who have every had to work it themselves .

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Very true 👍

[Gill H]

I am all for shops not opening on Boxing Day. As long as there is somewhere you can get emergencies (pint of milk etc) I really don’t see the need to go to a supermarket on Boxing Day.

Department stores may be a different matter, although in these days of online shopping, do people really go to the shops for Boxing Day sales? Can’t think of anything worse.

When I lived in London we used to go into central London to the theatre on Boxing Day. Everywhere apart from Oxford Street was really quiet.

[Gill H]

Originally Posted by Nimbus

Boxing Day Holiday is actually on the 28th Dec. Christmas Day Holiday is on 27th Dec. Both Christmas Day and Boxing Day fall on a weekend this year and therefore the bank holidays will both move.



Yep. There was a time when large shops actually used to shut on bank holidays. So, as you say, this year they'd shut early on Christmas Eve and then not reopen until Wednesday 29th. Four whole days without shops being open - how would anyone survive!

Mind you, back then most shops (except newsagents and little corner shops) didn't open on Sundays at all and there was half-day closing on Wednesdays.

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Half day closing on Wednesday is still a thing where I live!

[duchy]

I grew up in a time small shops still closed half day Wednesday and all day Sunday for small and large stores . Boxing Day nothing except corner shops were open for a few hours. The rot started when the out of town superstores were allowed to open Boxing Day , the high street then followed suit.
We all survived , even without Amazon to fall back on in those earlier days .
If Covid has taught us anything it’s that family time matters and we can survive for a bit without the high street stores.
I’ve boycotted Next for years because of their ridiculous opening time on Boxing Day , no one needs to shop at 4am and it ruins many of the staff’s Christmas Day .

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by Gill H

Half day closing on Wednesday is still a thing where I live!

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Cor, where do you live - the 1980s?

Interestingly (and I never knew this until now), closing for half a day during the week wasn't just a tradition; it was the law. The Shops Act ended in 1994 and from then on shops were allowed to open all day on Wednesday.

[Gill H]

Originally Posted by Nimbus

Cor, where do you live - the 1980s?

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More like the 1950s. Think Hot Fuzz with Welsh accents.

[DisneyDaffodil]

Originally Posted by Gill H

More like the 1950s. Think Hot Fuzz with Welsh accents.

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We spent a week in Ceredigion earlier this month, so peak holiday period, loads of pubs and cafes only opened Thursday-Sunday and most local shops and takeaways were closed on Sundays. I don’t think this was Covid related, it just appears that they only open on certain days