souporman wrote in post #5784368
Ahhh, ok. I get it now. I actually puzzled over that one for a while...are their weird laws that shops can't be open all day Sunday or something?
Aye. It used to be that, except in Scotland, only small stores (something like 3,000 sq ft) could open on a Sunday. But in the run up to Christmas one year in the 1990s Tesco decided they would make more profit than they would lose if fined, so opened stores on Sundays just for that period.
But because most people actually liked this and wanted to be able to do their shopping on a Sunday. As a result few local authorities took action against them, and the government were forced to reconsider the law.
As a compromise to the "Keep Sunday Special" campaign a compromise was made which only allowed larger stores to open for 6 hours on a Sunday. This is why trading hours on a Sunday are usually either 10-4pm or 11-5pm. Although they can open earlier to let you "browse" and fill your baskets, it is just the actual trading hours that are timed.
So the only stores allowed to be open permanently are small convenience stores, or ones in Scotland.
Edit:
They still exist!
Here are five reasons to keep Sunday special:
Protecting relationships
Preserving community
Saving local business
Respecting faith
Getting rest
http://www.keepsundayspecial.org.uk/
Michael.
