There is actually a legal reason why shops shut early on Sundays. The Sunday Trading Act 1994 states that large stores are only able to be open for trading for a maximum of six consecutive hours between the hours of 10am and 6pm.
Why don't your stores open longer on a Sunday? In England and Wales, the Sunday Trading Act 1994 means all stores over 3000 square feet have to be registered for Sunday Trading with their local authority. These stores can only open on a selected 6 hours on a Sunday between 10am and 6pm.
Following the defeat of the Shops Bill 1986, which would have enabled widespread Sunday trading, compromise legislation was introduced in July 1994 in England and Wales, coming into force on 26 August 1994, allowing shops to open, but restricting opening times of larger stores i.e. those over 280 m2 (3,000 sq ft) to a ...
Shops over 280 square metres: can open on Sundays but only for 6 consecutive hours between 10am and 6pm. must close on Easter Sunday. must close on Christmas Day.
Large shops and supermarkets in England and Wales are allowed to open on Sundays, but only for six consecutive hours between 10am and 6pm. So this means large shops are either open from 10am to 4pm, 11pm to 5pm or 12pm to 6pm. They also often have reduced hours on other Bank Holidays.
Why are so many big shops closing stores across the UK?
Why aren t shops open on Sunday?
It's the law. All shops except for corner shops (i.e. small shops) can only open for 6 hours on a Sunday. Mostly they open between 10.30 and 4.30, or between 11 and 5.
There's a limit on Sunday opening hours due to Sunday traditionally being a day of rest, as well as a religious or spiritual day for many people. They also help small businesses, allowing them to stay open for as long as they want when larger retailers have to close earlier than usual.
On Sundays, large shops may open for no more than 6 continual hours between the period 10am and 6pm. All large shops must close on Easter Sunday and on Christmas Day. In contrast, there are no opening restrictions for small shops (under 280 square metres or 3,000 square feet).
Large shops (those where the internal sales area exceeds 280 square metres) are permitted to open for six continuous hours on Sundays starting no earlier than 10am and ending no later than 6pm, except on Easter Sunday or Christmas Day when it falls on a Sunday.
Compared to many countries - small family businesses are more restricted. So a corner shop may be one and thus open all hours. But most other businesses have EMPLOYEES - who don't live over the shop, or indeed within walking distance. They have to be paid “unsocial hours” generally, to stay after 5pm.
From 2020 onward, the law allowed for Sunday shopping on Sundays preceding Christmas, one Sunday before Easter, and the last Sunday of January, April, June, and August of each calendar year. On Christmas Eve and Easter Saturday (preceding Easter), buyers could purchase only until 2 PM.
Blue laws commonly ban certain business and recreational activities on Sundays and impose restrictions on the retail sale of hard goods and consumables, particularly alcoholic beverages.
Most of Sainsbury's supermarket branches open their doors from 7am on weekdays and Saturday. They close their doors again late in the night, at around 10pm or 11pm depending. Opening and closing times for the supermarket are usually shorter on a Sunday though, typically from around 10am to 4pm.
Many had flouted the old law for years but in August 1994 a change in Sunday trading laws meant thousands of shops in England and Wales could open legally for the first time.
They might close early if they have an emergency like a power cut or a flood. Sometimes they close early if the owner/staff member has to leave early and there is no-one to look after the shop. Some might close early if they need to do a stock take or some planned maintenance that can't be done at any other time.
Fortunately, there are no obligations for shops and supermarkets to be closed throughout the King's Coronation itself. This means you'll be able to do any last minute shopping to have everything you need to celebrate the occasion on Saturday.
In particular the laws England and wales. The Church of England is the “Established Church”. That means that they have significant influence over our laws. Therefore, when Sunday trading was liberalised, it was considered that shop workers needed protecting on Sundays in particular.
The law was repealed in 1994, the same year the poor shop assistants were having to work Sundays as well. In some areas, however, local traders came to a mutual agreement that they would all close on the same afternoon each week, usually on the quietest day.
Last year was a “brutal” one for Britain's retail sector, with more shops shutting down than at any other point in the last five years, and 2023 will be similarly challenging, according to industry groups.
Sunday trading restrictions depend on the size of shop and the type of goods on sale. All small shops and 'exempt large shops' (such as registered pharmacies selling medicines only, farm shops, service stations and petrol filling stations) may open on Sunday without restriction.
Stores in Italy are generally closed on Sundays, but in almost every town (sometimes even in small towns) you will find an open supermarket. In cities where there's tourism, like Florence or Venice, most of the downtown stores will be open.
On top of this, Article 140 of Germany's constitution, the "Grundgesetz" or "Basic Law" dictates Sunday as a day of rest, just like the Bible. This was not the case in former East Germany, which did allow Sunday shopping until reunification, when it used the West German model.
A bill has been put forward to the Polish parliament by the Solidarność trade union to ban Sunday shopping for larger retail stores all Sundays (apart from 7 Sundays during the year). As a result of a long public debate in 2007, a law was passed banning trade on the public holidays, but not on Sundays.
