Why there is no such thing as a 24 Hour Tesco Store

cwathen · Mon 30 Nov, 2009 23.31

I have always wondered why businesses with more than one branch in the area don't stagger their sunday opening hours e.g. when there are 3 large Tesco stores in Plymouth what's the point of them all opening 10:30-4:30? To me it would make perfect sense to have one doing 7AM-1PM, one 12PM-6PM, and one 5PM-11PM, between them providing full 7AM-11PM coverage.

Chie · Tue 01 Dec, 2009 02.11

Well first of all, Sunday trading was made illegal by a Labour government in 1950.

The Conservatives repealed the law in 1994, a decision which was initially opposed by Labour and the shop workers union. The union eventually backed down and Labour voted in favour of allowing shops to open on Sundays after the Tories agreed to add conditions stating that working on a Sunday must be voluntary and employers must offer more pay to Sunday workers.

If that wasn't ironic enough, in 2004 Labour made it illegal for large shops and supermarkets to open on Christmas Day as well. There was no law against trading on Christmas Day prior to that.

Progress for you.

Sput · Tue 01 Dec, 2009 09.36

I don't follow the irony: Labour claims to support the workforce,so how would insisting that workers be guaranteed at least one day off a week, or be compensated for working on it, be inconsistent with that?

Nick Harvey · Tue 01 Dec, 2009 11.04

I'm amused by the inconsistency of our glorious government.

The right hand (I use the word 'right' advisedly) is insisting that shops only open for a few hours on a Sunday.

The left hand (ditto) is insisting that the Christians, the Jews and the Muslims all ought to have equal rights in our country.

Okay, so why aren't the shops reduced to just a few hours on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays?

Sput · Tue 01 Dec, 2009 11.14

Am I missing something more generally? Has some government person said that defending the right not to work on a Sunday is a religious thing rather than a pragmatic one?

Gavin Scott · Tue 01 Dec, 2009 11.43

All I know is Edinburgh's Goldbergs used to be closed on a Saturday, but open on a Sunday.

The clue is in the name.

Sput · Tue 01 Dec, 2009 11.49

Oy vey.

barcode · Tue 01 Dec, 2009 13.09

Chie wrote:If that wasn't ironic enough, in 2004 Labour made it illegal for large shops and supermarkets to open on Christmas Day as well. There was no law against trading on Christmas Day prior to that.Progress for you.

Rightly so, this should be extend to new years day, Do we REALLY, need to run the shops? every single day?

In scotland most places are still shut 2nd January, you be hard push to get a cheap taix or a bus service. ( £15 an hour I lest heard for drivers) Over the past couple of year the big supermarket have tried to open up on these days, and its a disgrace.

Gavin Scott wrote:All I know is Edinburgh's Goldbergs used to be closed on a Saturday, but open on a Sunday.
The clue is in the name.

What every happened to them? i was told there Xmas desplys were fantastic ( why there did this is open to question again)

I was told it was down by fountain bridge?

Gavin Scott · Tue 01 Dec, 2009 13.19

barcode wrote:
Chie wrote:If that wasn't ironic enough, in 2004 Labour made it illegal for large shops and supermarkets to open on Christmas Day as well. There was no law against trading on Christmas Day prior to that.Progress for you.
Rightly so, this should be extend to new years day, Do we REALLY, need to run the shops? every single day?

In scotland most places are still shut 2nd January, you be hard push to get a cheap taix or a bus service. ( £15 an hour I lest heard for drivers) Over the past couple of year the big supermarket have tried to open up on these days, and its a disgrace.

Gavin Scott wrote:All I know is Edinburgh's Goldbergs used to be closed on a Saturday, but open on a Sunday.
The clue is in the name.
What every happened to them? i was told there Xmas displays were fantastic ( why there did this is open to question again)

I was told it was down by fountain bridge?

Scotland got 2nd January as a holiday as (until the 1960s, even 70s) Christmas day was a working day for many in Scotland.

Goldbergs was in Tollcross, and is now where Bank of Scotland Corporate HQ, New Uberior House stands.

It was gigantic, with a large curtain wall of glass (before such things were commonplace).

Goldbergs department store was ahead of its time when it opened at High Riggs, Tollcross, Edinburgh in 1960. It was a modern construction on five floors, with roof garden, nursery and menagerie.

The store, with its copper sculptures at either side of the entrance at the top of a flight of stairs, was originally closed on Saturdays due to the owner's Jewish faith.

It was intended to be the showpiece in a new road system for Tollcross, but the new roads were never built.

Competition from elsewhere in Edinburgh, particularly the new St James Centre at the East End of Princes Street in the 1970s, made trading conditions difficult. Goldbergs finally closed in 1990.

New offices for the Bank of Scotland have now been built on the site.

barcode · Tue 01 Dec, 2009 13.30

Scotland got 2nd January as a holiday as (until the 1960s, even 70s) Christmas day was a working day for many in Scotland

I was told about that, off my gran. England get Xmas day off, while we in scotland new years day off.

Sput · Tue 01 Dec, 2009 13.33

Did they sell hats?