Well the shops are open longer hours and more days than ever before, and they are the ones in trouble and closing down. And the problem is people want it all, you hear people say we do most of our shopping online but i want the shops open just in case i decide i want to go to one.

Personally i don't know of anyone who has no family at all and suspect those that don't would spend it with a friend. Even the homeless share their Christmas with other fellow homeless with charities like the Salvation Army ensuring they get a meal.

People with family members they 'don't like', Christmas is a time to put personal ill feelings to one side. If someone can't suffer a relative for a few measly hours in an entire year then they aren't much of a person are they? Alternatively, go and do some voluntary work in a hostel for homeless over the Christmas period.


Shopping has virtually become 24/7/365 now particularly with online shopping so it's not as though people don't already have more than enough choice.

Christmas doesn't bother me, but i have grandchildren and even though they live too far away for me to just 'drop in', it's a time for them just as i enjoyed Christmas when i was their age. Parents and families need time away from work and others need to stop being so selfish demanding shops be open just so they have something to occupy themselves with. Watch the telly if you are bored!

Sundays? Why would they? Shops closed on Sunday throughout the country for years without problem and most small shops closed half day during the week. There are a few small shops near where i live and all except two close on Sunday and also have half day closing.

why don't you bother to read peoples posts before replying?

it's aready been pointed out that whilst businesses may have websites selling stuff on xmas day, the business can still lose out to other businesses open on xmas day

so for example, currys is closed so people look to buy online, and find amazon is cheaper and buy from amazon, so they order from them and currys loses a sale


no, because if you bothered to read what people have posted on this thread you would see brick and morter stores are competing with online businesses


it does sound like you are at least getting the gist of what people are trying to point out. if a store is closed, people may shop online, meaning a store can lose business when closed


that's absolutely fantastic, but it's a bit far to go there from the uk to do shopping


you say "problem" - can you explain why it's a problem?


who is "they"? a bunch of generalised people who have no clue and want their cake and want to eat it too?


so by closing on boxing day, one of the biggest shopping days in the year, that's more profits lost, isn't it? why close on one of the most profitable days of the year?


major retailers can still open on xmay day if they want. i suggest you google the law, instead of infering someone that knows much more about the law than yourself knows less than you

i presume by the fact that you provided no proof that i was wrong in my earlier statement that you are now aware i was right all along btw?

the conversation or boxing day?

you say that just after avoiding all the question posed directly in relation to the points you have made however. that's not really discussing is it? it's avoiding the questions


i'm not angry in the slightest. i think this is just another good example of your perception of things that varies from the reality

it's not at all. i suggest you read my posts

the main point is if stores are closed they will lose business, and in turn staff with lose out, and the more business lost, the biggest risk to those staff's jobs

there's absolutely no contradiction either. you seem to be incable of reading a comment about me talking about what i might do on CHRISTMAS DAY and confuse it with what OTHER PEOPLE might want to do on BOXING DAY after already spending a day off work

it's been pointed out umpteen times on this thread alone that people aren't forced to work

they apply for and accept jobs and the contractual obligations that come with them

retail staff aren't slaves locked in a cupboard and forced out on boxing day and chained to the store unable to leave

if people really don't want to work on any particular day they simply don't turn up, their bosses won't turn up at the door and force them at gunpoint or drag them in

they do have the choice. all they are being asked to do is work one day out of 365. it's not a sophies choice and it's not slave labour

so basically you miss my point entirely as you can't full think, and are taking what is said literally without thinking about it?

the point being on boxing day after having a day off work the day before, with loads of shite on the telly, people may want to do something else instead, such as go for a walk in the high street and look in shops and maybe buy stuff for themselves or others. maybe buy a book to read, or a dvd or bluray to watch of a videogram or boardgame so play with


i suppose if you don't put much thought into it then it may sound crazy. but some people may be busy working extra hours in the run up to xmas, have done xmas shopping weeks in advance and after having xmas day off, boxing day is a reasonably good first opportunity for some people to want to go shopping and spend the money they got at xmas or extra money made because they've been working long hours in the run up to xmas and take advantage of bargains in the sales that the stores put on, whilst the stores have the best stock and deals at the start of the sale, instead of going in 3 days later when the best bargains are gone


you are just generalising. people could have went umpteen days or even weeks without shopping on boxing day. just because someone opts to shop on that day or wants to shop on that day does not mean they can't wait



so you wouldn't want to disctate when shops can open and trade, and let them make the decision instead? that's basically all i'm on about, and likewise the others who have the sense to see that if stores close two days in a row they can lose a lot of business to competitors which can lead to them going out of business if things really are that bad, and it's been around the xmas period when some big chain stores have went out of business

unless you are very unsociable and don't work with many people, i bet you know a few people with no family, and others with no family locally or withing reasonable travel distance to visit on xmas day. it's just that you don't know about it

as for those people spending it with friends, typically you will find that if the friends have family they will spend it with family instead of friends. and that's why people with no family will be alone at xmas as their friends will have other plans




people with no family aren't always homeless. if they are homeless then xmas would be the least of their worries


you really didn't think that out did you?

people who are very emotional can be exceptional people, and those people may find it hard to suffer those who may have been "unkind" or even abusive to them in the past

xmas is a time where family may get together for rare occasion and therefore a time when arguments may start or rekindle


what percentage of people with no family to go to do you think would actually do this? it sounds like you are so far removed from understanding human nature in the current day


that's one of the main points. if stores close, people can shop online, the stores lose business, the staff lose hours of work, and businesses can suffer and in turn staff can lose jobs


i don't see anyone demanding stores are open. parents and families have another 360 odd days in the year they can make plans together if they really want to. xmas shouldn't be an excuse to make up for failings over the rest of the year

I do believe Christmas is a special time for many people. Although obviously not all.

My argument re shops closing on Boxing Day is simply because it is not essential for them to open and many employees may not want to work over the festive period because for them it is a 'special time'. Those who want to work can....and do.

I have no problem with bars, restaurants, theatres being open because they have traditionally been open. People who work in these industries expect to work over the festive period whether they like it or not.....just like me.

But shops being open......is a step too far for me. This is my opinion and I am entitled to it. You do not share it - that is ok too.

No need to be facetious.

I note that one poster feels entitled, after the busy Christmas run up, having been rushed and busy, to enjoy a bit of mooching on Boxing Day, but does not seem to consider others (in retail) might also like that free time?

If a shop did all its prep on Christmas Eve as many do, if they stayed closed 26 December they wouldn't

If a shop did all its prep on Christmas Eve as many do, if they stayed closed 26 December they wouldn't need to get staff in for preparing anyway.

Of course it does depend on the store. I do know that my 2 Boxing day working days in retail the majority of the transactions I dealt with were returns or exchanges.

if the store was closed on boxing day and xmas day, they wouldn't be prepping the store for boxing day on any day, would they?

But Aldi, Lidl, John Lewis & Waitrose manage to do it.

Many many years ago, I worked in Next, and I can tell you that I had no choice at all over when I could work or when I could take time off. I worked and lived in a different city from where my family was.

Management knew this, but they kept us in until 7pm on Christmas Eve putting sale tickets on the clothes, ready for the Boxing Day Sales. And taking DOWN the Christmas decorations! On Christmas Eve. I hated that so much. So depressing.

I had to try and catch the last train back to my folks, and finally got there at 11.30pm on Christmas Eve night.

I had to leave my folks' place again at 6pm on Christmas evening (had to organise a lift from very benevolent friends, as there were no trains running) to travel back to my work city, getting there to my flat at 9pm. Up the next morning at 5am and into work for 6am to make the last-minute sales preparations, in a distinctly non-Christmassy environment.

Doors opened at 8am, and we were swarmed.

I remember thinking "this is really sh!t", the company didn't give a toss about people wanting to have a family Christmas, and I loathed the heaving swarms of people battering each other for a 'bargain'. Had they nothing better to do at 8 o'clock in the morning? Most of them returning unwanted Christmas gifts, I hasten to add.

Boxing Day at the store didn't end until about 8pm - as we had to tidy the place and replenish stock before the next day's sales. In again at 6am next morning too. So for us, Christmas didn't really exist at all, we felt like we were robots.

Retail is hard work. Sometimes people really don't have a choice, they have to work in a job to pay their way in life, and have no choice but to accept what management throws at them. Even if it wrecks their family plans.

But some companies do ride roughshod over employees at times like Christmas and New Year's Eve - not giving any leeway at all. Single people were automatically discriminated against and were expected to take on the lions' share of the seasonal work, when I was in retail. As though single people didn't have personal lives or family situations of their own at that time of year.

Horrible times. I managed to get out of retail soon after and pursued a different career after that.

Nowadays, I make a point of not shopping on Christmas Eve, Boxing Day, New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, in solidarity with the people who do have to work on those days but who would have loved the chance to have that day off, but were given no option by management.


I think back to the days when I was very little: shops closed at 2pm on Christmas Eve so that workers could join their families, and they had Christmas Day and Boxing Day off. Shops didn't open late on New Year's Eve, they closed at around 5pm (unlike now where they stay open until 10pm), and they stayed closed on New Year's Day too. Retail staff had proper time off to be with their families, or just rest and recuperate from the busy pre-Christmas period, a time to put their feet up.

The good old days..

Sleepixie...yes, THAT is the reality of it! All because those who are fed up, with eating or, to use their own word, the shite that's on telly, can have a mooch round the shops and maybe buy...a top, a DVD...yes, essentials like that !

Xmas day trading act 2004 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ...ding)_Act_2004 https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...CrZWU0DVtq3I7w. And people buy from amazon or any online site when the shops are open, as i have said we have longer opening hours than ever before, but it not making people spend in shops, shop sales are going down and online sales are increasing, you could have 24/ 7 shops open, will not change people shopping habits which is more and more online. The days of having to go to a shop are gone, the days were you had to sit at home and use a computer or laptop to order are gone, you can sit on a train and order stuff or in a pub, the number of people visiting bricks and morter shops are decreasing and will continue to decrease

No i really don't. Don't forget 'family' includes cousins, nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles, step relations etc, it's not just mother/father son/daughter, brother/sister.


If that's what they want so be it. Some prefer being alone for one day, but they don't have to.



Of course not. That was simply an example of people possibly with no family at all.




Of course i have but it strikes me you will persist in looking for any excuse to support your argument.




Enough to staff the places during the Christmas period though i'm sure there will always be a place glad of a volunteer. When are you starting?




People with internet access can shop online anytime whether stores are open or closed.



Oh but there is. Many people rage at anyone suggesting going back to Sunday closing, not giving a thought to the people who still have to work there when they are closed!


You seem bitter. Watch a movie on your own.

If you don't hate people before you get a job in retail, it won't be long before you do!

I used to love working xmas eve, it had a great feel to it and we all used to get tipsy in the pub at lunch time. Dragging yourself out to work on Boxing day though really is the pits and I hated each and every customer that I had to serve. I felt contempt for them all, I can't remember any of them ever buying what I felt was absolutely necessary, it all could have waited.

Excellent post sleep pixie. You know iv'e been reading through this thread for a few days now and it really does amaze me how selfish some people are. The fact is shops don't NEED to be open on boxing day ( the high street isn't going to crumble if shops are open 1 day less ) so there's really no need to force and yes i say FORCE the workers to have basically no proper xmas at all.

It always seems to be people that have never worked in retail or have xmas eve, boxing day off themselves that are against this. I wonder would you feel the same if you had to work on those days ? I think not.

And for people that say you don't have to work on those days if you don't want to... That's just not true. It's not optional at all. Oh and lastly the "you shouldn't take the job if you don't want to work on boxing day" brigade. Do you really think most people work in retail out of choice ? It's usually because they're the only jobs available and You'd be the first ones complaining if we didn't accept the job and instead claimed the dole.

Whilst I don't disagree with your overall point, it's not always true that people who worked in retail applied for a job that saw them working Boxing Day. My mum has worked in retail for 20 something years, only in the last two or three years has the company she works in been open on Boxing Day. People who have been in retail (I'm talking supermarkets) for a long time have seen the time they get off over Christmas reduced and it's not true that they all signed up to it when they took the job. It's a recent development.

- - -

Would I care if shops closed on Boxing Day again? No. Would I sign a petition to make it happen? No.

The world won't end because people who spent £250 on food on December 23rd can't go and get some bread from a supermarket 3 days later but it's one of those not really fussed either way things for me.

I don't think you read it properly. Look again at the bit after family time.