Your opinion about trading hours

[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