Your opinion about trading hours

[John G]

There has been much recent discussion in the Victorian press about Easter trading hours.
Supposedly, a particular hardware chain (let's call them "B"), was very upset about having to close on Easter Sunday. They claim they lost "millions of dollars" in revenue, and today I read they are providing police with a list of competitors that remained open that day!
They claim that closing on a busy DIY weekend cost them revenue. But the counter-argument is that if someone needed some hardware, they would just have bought it on the Saturday or Monday instead, and therefore no revenue was lost.
Surely the only revenue that "B" would have lost is the % of customers that would have normally gone to "B", but instead went to a competitor on Sunday because "B" was closed. Could this % be "millions of dollars"?

[Dean]

Possibly if it affected all their stores....

But then if they are making mega millions of dollars each day, then surely one day isn't going to send them broke...

Just a corporate whinge driven by the money-hungry mob.

[q9]

Well just to add some balance...

If they ("B") had to, then why not everyone else? That is only fair. As for buying on saturday, well you run out of things at the last minute, don't you? Things break and need replacing, sometimes you don't know you need a part until you get a chance to look at something, etc.

While it is easy to be critical of pricing of some big place like "B". But just think of what they offer the market - one place to get a variety of things that might otherwise require driving all around the place. The trade-off for this convenience is pricing that will sometimes not be the cheapest.

They carry a huge inventory which costs money while it just sits there. So I can see their point - why should their inventory sit around costing money while their competitors, be they large or small, continue trading when they are told that they can't?

Remember - no-one MAKES you spend your money anywhere - that is a choice YOU make.

[oges]

Why couldnt they trade? is there a law telling them they have to close certain days? must be like the anzac day one where you cant get alcohol take aways from clubs etc..

[Wood Borer]

These type of statements are always very confusing to me. I must be one of the unusual people who do not have an excess of money.

If I spent it yesterday then I can't spend it today, in a similar fashion if I don't spend it today then I can spend it tomorrow. Greedy traders must think people spent Easter burning their excess cash!

The law in Victoria is a bit strange in that shops with less than 20 staff were allowed to open but more than 20 could not. There was confusion about if you owned multiple shops with less than 20 staff in each but the total of staff in all shops exceeded 20.

Why bother to respect this day anyway? Hasn't our Prime Minister stated on numerous occasions that things that happened in the past don't matter any more! Same applies to Anzac day, Christmas day .... ?

I respect these days but condemn theories coming from feeble minds.



- Wood Borer

[GeoffS]

Yep! that's right - Victoria imposed a 'Everything Closed Easter Sunday' rule.

Personaly, I wouldn't mind a return to 9 to 5 trading and work hours - I think the current arrangements are doing enormous damage to the country's social structure.

Whatever my opinion - the rules must be applied equally. "B" has every right to complain if, after obeying the rules, others broke them with impunity.

[Rowan]

While my own opinion is that any trader should be allowed to open when they like, I feel that "B" are showing that famous AUSSIE spirit that we seemed to inherit from the US. That is if you dont get your own way, have a cry and blame someone else.

Wonder how much it cost them to compile the list of who was open???????

[DaveInOz]

The laws aren't there to help or hurt business, they are there to protect workers who would otherwise be forced to work on a traditional holiday. An employer can put a great deal of pressure on a person to work against their wishes and the wishes of their family - but not if they can't open.

[Wood Borer]

Dave,

I couldn't agree more.

Family life gets in the way of big business unless you are taking your family to their business to spend your money to make them rich!

A far better investment is to spend time with your family. That includes not working public holidays.

Naming Public Holidays after religious special days is pointless unless we are going to observe the religious significance of those days.

Perhaps to satisfy Big Business, we could rename our public holidays $$$01, $$$02 etc to reflect what Big Business thinks these days are really about.

- Wood Borer

[Sir Stinkalot]

I am all for trading over the public holidays (with the exception of Anzac Day). I went into B's on the Saturady and it was sooooo busy it took half the day to get what I needed for the Sunday. As soon as I started work on the Sunday I ran out of pop rivets and my day was over ... what a waste. Public holidays were great little money earners for a uni student and the staff that didn't want to work didn't have to, and this was in various retail stores over 7 years. The thing that I don't like now is the stores only open monday to friday as I am now working full time I never get a chance to visit. Bring on more weekend trading ... bring on more staff ... lets go shopping.


Stinky

[Wayne Davy]

I started work on the Sunday I ran out of pop rivets and my day was over ...

Stinkie,

Not making a Cyclone by any chance?
:confused:

[Sir Stinkalot]

Wayne,

Not yet unfortunately ... I plan to get a dc from the Melbourne Wood Show along with a bandsaw and a Trition respirator ... just depends on how many under the counter jobs I can line up for the weekends :)

The pop rivets were for a cantilevered bookcase .... basically metal shelves with a perforated metal sheet on top that are connected directly into the stud wall frame. I must say that I am quite happy with the results. I plan to post an image when I have finished making the magazine holders ... the only thing in the entire project constructed out of timber so I can post it on this site. I have been amazed that the stud wall can carry as much weight as it has and I am sure it will only be a matter of time before I have easy access to the bathroom from my study, just have to climb over the rubble of the wall. It’s been a few months now and everything is still in tack fingers crossed.

Must go now and check out this new site I have heard of about some bloke that has made a cyclone for his workshop .. who woulda thunk it? :D You should check it out I think it will be right up your alley ....

Just another cyclone site .... (http://members.optusnet.com.au/~wayne_davy/)

Stinky

[DanP]

Hi all,

From someone who has three family members who work at the infamous "B's" store. On public holidays and close to X'mas, the "B's" store that my family works at trades $250,000 + on a slow day, and they are one of the quieter stores. If all the stores didn't get this business and their competitors did, I can see why they're a bit annoyed. I couldn't care less if they are allowed to open or not, but all who broke the trading laws should be penalised. If "B's" had opened they certainly would have been.

Dan

[JackoH]

Any Hours they like. Any Day they like.
Competition will dictate.:mad:

[journeyman Mick]

Must say I'm with Dave & Woodborer. Longer trading hours just mean reduced quality of life. I love the idea of bringing back 9-5 Mon - Fri. Sorry to say this, but if you run out of materials half way thru a job you haven't spent enough time planning. Everybody managed fine way back when, and the hardware store and timber yards that I use are only open 7-5 weekdays and 8 - 12 Saturday (plus I wouldn't believe everything "B" says about being cheaper)

Mick

[DanP]

The reason that these places are open the hours that they are is because of all the people who work 9-5 in jobs that don't involve them going to the hardware store. It is a convenience for people that aren't able to go during the day and it is increased trading for companies. It looks like a win-win to me. The only people put out are the employees and that is their choice.

Dan

BTW: I am a shift worker so I can go during the day.

[q9]

Unfortunately or fortunately depending on your opinion, the world has moved on from strict Monday to Friday 9-5.

Personally I like it. I can go shopping when it suits me. It also creates employment as there are 12 (avg) extra working hours per week that have to be staffed.

A lot of people will argue that it doesn't suit the smaller players. While that might be partially true, it is up to them to change with the demands of consumers and offer the market a reason for spending their money with them. The market will punish those that do not.

A lot of people resist change, then wonder why they are watching from the sidelines.

[journeyman Mick]

Being a realist I don't believe we will see a return of shorter trading hours (or a lot of other things for that matter) but it doesn't mean I have to like the big chains (whether they deal in hardware, furniture, sportsgoods or whatever) and their longer hours. I consciously opted out of all (most?) things big a few years ago. Was working for a big company on a big construction job, making big dollars and working huge hours. When I started the job we were doing 64 hrs a week (11hrs per day mon-thurs, 10hrs ea. fri & sat) within 2 weeks they'd bumped the hours up to 68 and then not long after that they wanted us to do 8 hrs on Sunday as well. It came to me 4.30 one morning as I was running my dog that it didn't matter what anyone paid me it wasn't worth having no life for. (when you work those long hours your brain is never very sharp and although it may seem obvious now it wasn't then after three years of long and steadily increasing hours on various sites). A mate of mine stayed on that job and they ended up doing 12 hrs a day, 7 days a week. He lost control of his 4wd on the Kuranda range one night as he was on his way to a night on the town after a 12 hr day, as he was still trying to have a life as well. Totalled his car and broke his arm. On the same job a guy was killed as they were rushing to get something done.
As far as the "small" hardware store I use goes, it carries or makes pretty much everything. They have their own sheetmetal shop, roof & gutter, steel door frame, and glazing & joinery manufacture. They know what they sell and they have a large pecentage of the trade customers. I'm not a big customer but my discount means that their prices are better than "B's" even with B's trade card.
So I'm a small operator, doing small jobs, do better quality than when I worked for others, at a lower price (generally) than the big boys, with more dollars in my pocket at the end of it for less hours and (generally) less stress.
Bigger quality of life and longer hours with your loved ones are worth more than bigger chains and longer shopping hours. And do we really need all the "stuff" we accumulate nowadays? There's an old bloke I know down the road -Bill, he's about 80 now. He sold a farm to a multi national developer back in the boom days, bought a farm for each of his two sons, still drives around in a beat up old bush basher, lives in a humpy, tends his cattle with a bit of help from his neighbours. He hasn't got much, but he's got everything he needs or wants.
Sorry to start a big rave but lots of things have happened in my life recently to make me realise how precious life is and how little most things we think matter really do. Didn't mean to offend anybody

:) Mick

[alf t]

If you are paying your CEO $6 million a year to do a job a drovers dog could do I suppose you would want to open every day.
Anyway, check their prices and quality... it's not as good as they would like you to believe!
Alf