The retail trading hours debate

[monotonehell]

And in the City and Glenelg, there's really no justification for having any restrictions at all. Likewise Port Adelaide.

The justification is it's a public holiday. Did you have to go into the office on those days?

[Aidan]

And in the City and Glenelg, there's really no justification for having any restrictions at all. Likewise Port Adelaide.

The justification is it's a public holiday. Did you have to go into the office on those days?

The number of shops open on Proclamation Day means that excuse is as flimsy as a tinsel bridge. Office workers didn't get three extra days off.

[Wayno]

i'm interested in facts - what % of the population are pro-shopping on public holidays vs those who are not. Are there sufficient people happy to voluntarily work those days, etc. Distributed by age bracket. It's hard to tell if this is a media & retail industry beat up, although shopping in designated tourist regions seems reasonable. I'm also in favour of food retailers being open (across suburbia), but not necessarily all day.

As an example of the potential negative impact, my family (and extended family) converged at a beach house for Dec 25/26. Sure was fun, and a truly special occasion. A few of the youngsters work in retail and hence our gathering would have been diminished if the shops were open on boxing day, and for what? so others could escape into retail therapy a day or two early? pfft...

[monotonehell]

Aidan I haven't run out of bread yet, I did my last food shopping on the 23rd. Do you buy yours 3 slices at a time?

The number of shops open on Proclamation Day means that excuse is as flimsy as a tinsel bridge.

So because some people aren't having a public day off, others can't? You're making no logical sense.

Office workers didn't get three extra days off.

Well actually they did, how else would they be rattling about complaining that the shops aren't open?

I'm not against deregulation of trading hours. As long as the employer-employee relationship is kept reasonably fair (at the moment it's tipped toward the employer in the retail sector. Anyone who thinks employees can chose to work when they want in most places of work is deluded.)

My main problem is with people cranking on about it every year as if it's some kind of human rights abuse that they cant get further into debt. The only real argument for it is because some people want it. All the arguments I've seen are puff and hyperbole. It comes down to the fact that retail has become entertainment. So like the cinema and pubs people want shops open all the time. The only shops who can afford to open all hours that come are the big box retailers, and our recently returned US ex-pats will tell you all about big box retailers. Once they put the competition to bed, they reduce their trading hours.

[Aidan]

Aidan I haven't run out of bread yet, I did my last food shopping on the 23rd. Do you buy yours 3 slices at a time?

No, but I eat it more quickly. Anyway, bread is better fresh.

The number of shops open on Proclamation Day means that excuse is as flimsy as a tinsel bridge.

So because some people aren't having a public day off, others can't? You're making no logical sense.

No, that's certainly not what I'm saying - that would indeed make no logical sense.

What I'm saying is that it being a public holiday is an absolutely pathetic excuse for keeping shops closed when so many of them are open on the following day which is also a public holiday.

Office workers didn't get three extra days off.

Well actually they did, how else would they be rattling about complaining that the shops aren't open?

Most got two extra days off, the first of which was Monday.

I'm not against deregulation of trading hours. As long as the employer-employee relationship is kept reasonably fair (at the moment it's tipped toward the employer in the retail sector. Anyone who thinks employees can chose to work when they want in most places of work is deluded.)

My main problem is with people cranking on about it every year as if it's some kind of human rights abuse that they cant get further into debt. The only real argument for it is because some people want it. All the arguments I've seen are puff and hyperbole.

You load your argument with accusations about debt - you can't get more puffy and hyperbolic than that!

It comes down to the fact that retail has become entertainment. So like the cinema and pubs people want shops open all the time. The only shops who can afford to open all hours that come are the big box retailers, and our recently returned US ex-pats will tell you all about big box retailers. Once they put the competition to bed, they reduce their trading hours.

One of the advantages of a big city is that this strategy would not work.

[rev]

If you don't like it then stay home. Meanwhile Bourke Street Mall was PACKED on Sunday and the cash was flowing freely. Fun times were had.

Where's the justification then to have public holiday trading when on regular days people don't turn up for extended shopping hours?
Let's not get caught up with what is happening interstate. It is irrelevant to what's happening in Adelaide.

[crawf]

If you don't like it then stay home. Meanwhile Centro Murray Bridge was PACKED on Sunday and the cash was flowing freely. Fun times were had.

Fixed

[Hooligan]

But we are born to eat

So sharpen your spear and go hunting!

[Nathan]

To add to the discussion, why are so many shops closed today, when January 2 is not in any way a holiday? Particularly the supermarkets - we tried to go do some grocery shopping for tonights dinner, only to find all the doors at Norwood Foodland (and also at The Avenues Coles) locked. And we weren't the only ones. You could see quite a few people pull into the carpark, walk to the door, and then walk back to their car with empty shopping bags.

Highly frustrating.

[crawf]

I think it's due to the shops being allowed to open tomorrow which is infact a public holiday

Still very annoying though.

[jk1237]

I must admit, the past 2 weeks feel like we are back in 1948. Shops closed on days which are not the public holiday is weird. And having almost 4 days in a row of no major supermarkets open is unacceptable in 2010. Shit, 2011. I rode into town yesterday and noticed the Rundle Street markets open, so I thought all shops were open. As I got closer to Rundle Mall I could see quite a few people walking down the mall so I def thought they were open. But no. Infact I have never seen so many people and tourists walk down a mall where everything was closed

[Omicron]

My view is straightforward - close on public holidays, and let shops decide when they want to open on the other days. I don't feel so strongly about it that it needs to be the lead story for every news service (Seriously, get over it, people. If it's shut, deal with it.). I think it's very reasonable for retail workers to be entitled to a day off on the same days that offices, government services, banks etc. are also closed - I cast quite a disapproving eye over those bleating for limitless shopping when their office opens at 9 and closes at 5 sharp on weekdays, and not even the most dire of circumstances could coax the slightest assistance outside those hours beyond a stupid recorded message.

I don't, however, accept this nonsense about public holidays granted on weekdays when they fall on weekends, ot the SDA's pontificating about all retail workers entitled to public holidays off except those who work at Glenelg, or Harbourtown, or in the country, or in petrol stations, or three thousand other exceptions (the old 'all retail workers are equal, but some are more equal than others' argument). We don't have public holiday Sundays for all the weekend workers who miss out on a Monday holiday - why do we allow Monday workers to have their Monday off when the holiday falls on a Sunday?

[monotonehell]

My view is straightforward - close on public holidays, and let shops decide when they want to open on the other days. I don't feel so strongly about it that it needs to be the lead story for every news service (Seriously, get over it, people. If it's shut, deal with it.). I think it's very reasonable for retail workers to be entitled to a day off on the same days that offices, government services, banks etc. are also closed - I cast quite a disapproving eye over those bleating for limitless shopping when their office opens at 9 and closes at 5 sharp on weekdays, and not even the most dire of circumstances could coax the slightest assistance outside those hours beyond a stupid recorded message.

I don't, however, accept this nonsense about public holidays granted on weekdays when they fall on weekends, ot the SDA's pontificating about all retail workers entitled to public holidays off except those who work at Glenelg, or Harbourtown, or in the country, or in petrol stations, or three thousand other exceptions (the old 'all retail workers are equal, but some are more equal than others' argument). We don't have public holiday Sundays for all the weekend workers who miss out on a Monday holiday - why do we allow Monday workers to have their Monday off when the holiday falls on a Sunday?

This ^^^ Saves me typing exactly the same thing.

[AtD]

One-off bid for early Sunday Rundle Mall trading for cruise line tourists
Russell Emmerson From: The Advertiser January 24, 2011 12:00AM
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sout ... 5993263092

TOURIST from cruise liners look to succeed where others have failed - opening Rundle Mall shops before 11am on a Sunday.
The Rundle Mall Authority has applied for a one-off change to the precinct's opening hours to convince 4500 cruise ship tourists and crew that Adelaide is a lively, vibrant place.

The ocean liner Queen Mary II and the cruise ship Amadea were due to arrive at Outer Harbor on February 20.

Passengers and some crew would then be whisked by charter bus into Adelaide's premier shopping precinct where they would be greeted by a jazz band in full flight and a selection of winemakers keen to show visitors exactly why South Australia is known for its wines.

These one-day tourists would be able to shop before 11am if the application was successful.

Rundle Mall Authority general manager Martin Haese said there was "every indication" the State Government would approve the application for the "anomalous" arrival of two ships.

"We have two ships coming in at the same time and departing at the same time, which is quite an anomaly," he said. "The ongoing argument for the Rundle Mall precinct in this debate has been based on it being designated a tourist precinct ... and this is a particularly singular example of (the need for) that."

Mr Haese ruled out a permanent extension of Sunday shopping hours, leaving Adelaide shoppers only one day to experience early shopping.

Business SA chief executive Peter Vaughan welcomed the attraction for the tourist influx but said that the anomaly was "lunacy". "What an incredible anomaly when we let a boatload of people come in but for regular South Australians it remains a no-go zone," he said.

Foot traffic in the Mall increased 22 per cent in November partly as a result of extending weekday trading until 7pm, according to the authority.

French tourists Thibaut Simonin, 22, and Marion Guillouf, 23, have visited Rundle Mall twice since arriving in Adelaide last Wednesday but said they were more likely to have a long breakfast than take advantage of early Sunday shopping.

"It is an unfair idea of what Rundle Mall is on a Sunday," Mr Simonin said. "But Adelaide is a good city with a lot of activity ... so this special Sunday could make it like the rest of the year."

[stumpjumper]

This underlines the hypocrisy of the Shoppies' position. If SA's political leaders, Senator Don Farrell and SDA Secretary Peter Manilauskas, had the best interests of the state in mind, they would free up shopping hours.

The problem is that our government (Mr Farrell and Mr Manilauskas) is not representative of the people. Mr Farrell won't face an election for years, and no-one has ever voted for Mr Manilauskas.

The situation is a very good argument for setting up in SA some sort of democracy, with popularly elected representatives meeting in a parliament to govern on behalf of the electors. The British Westminster system is a good basic model. We could vote for representatives.

The main difficulty with government by the executive of a single union, apart from the fact that the union executive is not popularly elected, accountable or transparent, is that unless you're a longtime member of Labor Right you can't even get in the door.