24/7 shopping- has it gone too far?

It seems a bit rich for expats to be complaining about shops being closed.
If they don't like it they can always come back to Britain!

Who decides whether the shops are closed at certain times? If it is not the shopkeepers then I think there may be a case for complaint. If business owners want to carry on business activities on days that others want as holiday, why shouldn't they?

Self owned and wo/manned businesses can open- but they can't employ staff to do so on their behalf. Part of an agreement with Unions. Our small village supermarket opens at 6am till 12am on Sundays, and one of the family members (they live above shop) works there.

I remember when our huge Tesco Hypermarket opened near us in UK, shop assistants, etc, were told they would not have to work nights or Sundays- and that the store would be wo/manned by people who chose to do so. It lasted 2 years, then they all got letters saying that all unsociable hours would be shared, no choice, tough luck.

A large local Sainsburys used to be open 24/7. In my working days, I would frequently go there around 11pm on a Friday evening and there would be maybe 6 others there in total. I loved it as I could shop in superfast time and there would be a good selection. These opening hours did not last long as it was obviously not financially viable.

In London one does not have to travel far to find a little shop with an Asian owner open very late at night.

I agree, if expats do not like their new shopping arrangements, tough, return to Britain.

Why should we expect shops to be open ?

After all there is a reduced postal service. --- not to mention rail and bus network

So thank goodness the police, fire and ambulance services are available. District nurses and midwives also!

That is an interesting view of emigrants / immigrants / expats, jane and charleygirl.
Live in a country, pay taxes, even become an elected representative, but you are not allowed to complain about anything? Not ever? Not even after ten, twenty, fifty years?
As a council member I spent a lot of time complaining about the poor broadband service in our village. Should I not have done that?
Not trying to provoke an argument here, just genuinely interested to know why people would think that?

And social workers are available 24/7.

Just in case anyone should need one (some might say that's 24/7 hours too many)

In all honesty, I would love to return to a time when shops all closed on Sundays and Bank Holidays. I hate the 24/7 culture.

I have just been down to the small Coop convenience store to get the carrots I forgot yesterday. But all the supermarkets and garden centres are closed on Easter Day and why not?

I don't object to Sunday closing, though I do find Monday closing annoying (not on public holidays, just every Monday). I moan to anyone who will listen about how annoying it is that public swimming pools are only open between 1200 and 1.30 in term time though. Such a waste of a fantastic public resource.

must admit I could have done with a shop open today!! grrr,, I don't normaly shop at Aldi for main shop but do like odd things form there (chunky veg soup is lovely) I have bought fresh veg/fruit before and not been impressed...anyway DH thought he would dictate as where I do my shop last week (Thursday) so off I went to Aldi spent about £20 potatoes.cabbage/carrots/cauli to go with todays sunday roast leg of lamb (bought from Asda) I have just come to chop up savoy cabbage from Aldi...it is riddled with black bits and also it had bolted!! didn't notice it at the time...but on opening it it looked about 3 months old!!couldn't even salvage enough from it...then moved onto plastic bag of carrots, these looked like the type that you give to horses animals etc, managed to get few out of them...the cauli was clean but it was all solid in the middle all heart if you you know what I mean, I am not fussy but do like fresh veg, I find Aldis veg can be quite old and also there dates are not long on some of the products.had they been open today I would have taken them back (something I rarely do) so yes today I could have done with a shop open to go and buy some fresh veg.Hopefully I can smother it with lamb gravy!!

There's nothing to stop those who wish to have a quiet Sunday/Bank Holiday without any shopping involved at all. Why do they think that their choice should apply across the board to everyone else though? I like to decide for myself how to spend my time, whatever day it is and would positively hate to go back to the interminable dull Sundays of my childhood where everything was closed and the day dragged on and on.

Point is Gagagran, is that the shop workers do not have the choice- they have to work, so are told what to do with their Sundays, and nights, etc.

There is so much to do out there- I do feel sad that anyone would think that unless they can go shopping, their day will drag on and be a waste.

Totally Mamie- but you also have to adapt to some extent- and not always take it for granted that what is the norm 'back home' has to become the norm where you have chosen to live.

To go back to another thread- so many expats here are trying to force local authorities to allow school choice out of Commune, catchment.

Mamie I'm not arguing either , and I can see that if you have contributed to a society or a community, you might be justified in feeling you could act for change.
But if something is deeply culturally ingrained, then no, I don't think expats have the right to complain.
I was under the impression that long lunch hours and opening at certain times were regarded in France as being of totemic significance but am happy to be corrected on that.
I don't like 24/7 shopping because of the effect on workers and their families, too. It's bad enough for people working in the emergency services to be denied holiday time with friends and family - why impose that on shop workers too.

I often shop on Sunday but I do agree that shops should close today if only to allow families to spend a day together. Everybody knows the shops are shut so can shop in advance and lots of other activities today to pass the time.

Whatever happened to early closing day?

My father was adept at arranging family outings to places on their early closing day, so that Mum couldn't spend money in antique shops! The AA book had the E C day for each of the places in its gazetteer.

Not so many years ago John Lewis shops used to close on Sunday AND Monday, imagine that now!

They used not to take credit cards either, when everyone one else did.

How times change.

I think it is a mixture of things really. Yes, people like long lunch hours and lots of holidays (who wouldn't?). Other people would like to be able to improve the economy by changing the rules but can't because although successive presidents say that they want to open up the economy, none of them seems actually prepared to do anything. Small businesses are crippled by huge social contributions so that they can't expand or take on more staff. The internet is woefully under-used.
France (imo) is an extremely conservative socialist country.
There is so much that is wonderful here, but the view that everything is perfect and nothing could be achieved by change of any kind is very frustrating to many, many people.
I am not bothered about shopping on Sunday, but I do remember the shop-owner quoted in the local paper who said, "customers have got to learn that they can't have everything they want."

Back in the ?80s I think the laws about Sunday opening were up to local councils.
We had TV/video shops and Sunday could have been a very busy day, so husband joined with other traders to persuade the Hull council to relax their Sunday trading laws. Which they agreed to eventually.
This must have been going on all over the country, and led to the current situation, which I think is good for the economy.
No-one is forced to shop on Sunday.
Compare with the situation in France, where they still hang onto the old hours of working and low profit margins.
Which is more important, profit margin or enjoying life away from work?

Mamie I bet that shop-owner wouldn't be very happy if he couldn't have a drink in a bar or lunch out on a Sunday if he wanted it!

Actually, I never get the impression that people mind about ideas for doing things differently, because they see it (rightly) as caring about what happens here. I don't have a lot of sympathy with expats who sit on the terrace with their glass of wine and don't have a clue what is going on in the country.
Though a is very nice!

Actually TriciaF, I think the French economy could do with some improved profit margins. It is terrible how so many businesses are going under here. The cotisations are just crippling.

Indeed Riverwalk. Or that the patisserie wasn't open when mass finishes!