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Opening Times

kiwi_birdkiwi_bird
edited October 2006 in Everything Else
Hi guys. I just had a few questions about opening times in the US, since I live in Germany.
-are your shops opened Saturday and Sunday?
-do you have 24h shops?

It just interested me, thanks.

Comments

  • PilitusPilitus
    It depends on the area and the owner. Some places aren't open on Sundays, and there are stores that never close.
  • KilarneyKilarney
    edited October 2006
    As a very general rule...

    Most stores that are part of a chain are opened on Sunday. Small stores, or stores that are owned by a sole proprietor are usually closed on Sundays.

    Almost every urban area has some sort of store that is open 24 hours. It is usually a grocery store or pharmacy. Often, there will be several stores open 24 hours. In rural areas, this is extremely uncommon.

    There is no trouble getting gas, groceries, and other necessary items on Sunday.

    Banks generally have limited hours - but this varies greatly by region.

    Now in Quebec, Canada... stores close at 5pm on Saturday and stay closed on Sundays. Sucks for me since I live so close to Quebec.
    Post edited by Kilarney on
  • RymRym
    edited October 2006
    It really depends on the area. Back in southeast Michigan, every grocery store was 24/7, restaurants rarely if ever closed before 11, most fast food was 24/7, and most shops were open until at least 10. The mall was open until 10 every day, 11 on Fridays and Saturdays. Nothing was ever closed for Sundays, and most places were open even on major holidays.

    In Rochester, the mall closed pretty early, especially on Sundays. A lot of eateries seemed to close between 8 and 10, and in general stores seemed to keep much shorter hours. The pizza places around RIT's campus, however, delivered until 2 or 3 in the morning, and the grocery stores were 24/7.

    In Beacon, practically all of the businesses in the city keep very short hours, and late night food is very difficult to find. Many of the grocery stores in the county are NOT 24/7, a fact that startled me one night I needed eggs and found locked doors. Surprisingly, most of the drug stores also keep short hours. (I was yelled at once by the manager of a local Rite Aid for having the gall to walk in and want to purchase something so close to closing time: 8pm).

    Then there's Manhattan, where I can get practically anything I want any hour of the day any day of the week ^_^
    Post edited by Rym on
  • La Petit MortLa Petit Mort
    edited October 2006
    Most places closed around 8:00-9:00, but some like Walmart are always open.
    Post edited by Rym on
  • tuttle88tuttle88
    What is a kiwi bird doing in Germany anyway?
  • AprecheApreche
    I can understand it if say, an antique shop keeps short hours. The only employee is probably the proprietor, who needs time off, and it probably makes all of its money on weekends anyway. However, a drug store, gas station, convenience store or grocery not being open 24/7 is almost inexcusable. I really don't understand how people get these ideas. Most people work all day and they do not have time before work to go buy necessary goods. After work they have to make dinner, eat dinner and sleep. That doesn't leave much time for shopping. Back in the college days we rarely went to the grocery store when the sun was up. If the store here didn't close, I would do the same. I can't give you my money if you aren't open!
  • tuttle88tuttle88
    edited October 2006
    I can understand it if say, an antique shop keeps short hours. The only employee is probably the proprietor, who needs time off, and it probably makes all of its money on weekends anyway. However, a drug store, gas station, convenience store or grocery not being open 24/7 is almost inexcusable. I really don't understand how people get these ideas. Most people work all day and they do not have time before work to go buy necessary goods. After work they have to make dinner, eat dinner and sleep. That doesn't leave much time for shopping. Back in the college days we rarely went to the grocery store when the sun was up. If the store here didn't close, I would do the same. I can't give you my money if you aren't open!
    We only just got Sunday general trading, it came with the shops being allowed to open until 9pm every day. Before, it was only Thursday in the suburbs and Friday in the city. We just got our first Starbucks a couple months ago too, and an Ikea before that. I'm surprised people haven't been dying from the excitement.
    Post edited by Rym on
  • RymRym
    edited October 2006
    Until recently, families with a single breadwinner were the norm, so the stay-at-home partner could do all of the shopping during the day. More progressive areas like cities and college towns had a greater variety of living arrangements and working hours, and as such needed alternate hours of operation to succeed. Now that traditional families are fast becoming the minority, I think we'll see a shift toward later hours across the board.

    Demographics matter a lot. College towns tend to have a great number of pizza and wings places open very late, along with 24/7 grocery stores for nightowls. Their customers tend to stay up later, wake up later, and purchase certain kinds of things.

    There's also the issue of population density. Everything was open late back where I grew up, but there were also almost 200,000 people in my immediate area. There was enough demand at all hours to justify the expense. In a smaller town or quieter area, you can't justify the expense of paying employees all night if you'll sell one carton of eggs at three in the morning to someone like me who otherwise would just purchase it during the day anyway.
    Post edited by Rym on
  • kiwi_birdkiwi_bird
    edited October 2006
    @ tuttle88: I live in Germany (since I was born in Berlin), used to be in an English school in Saudi Arabia.

    The reason I asked is because Scott in some episode said that he was going to buy a book case in Ikea on Sunday. Now in Germany, the church says that shops should be closed Saturdays and Sundays. Now a few smart politicians here said that it is a stupid law, but since the biggest party in the parliament here are the Christian democrats, the only law that got through was that shops could be opened till 20:00 on Saturdays, never on Sundays, and only to 22:00 on week days.

    Through time shops could open on events (like that World Cup and the weekend before Christmas) on Sunday as long as they wanted to. But still, it's pretty shitty. So now, the government is testing a law in one of our states where shops can open 'till Sunday, and I hope it works out.

    The problem is that the church has a strong hold on the government in Germany. By the way, the gas station and some shops on train stations have open hours on Sunday and 24/7 (like Mc Donalds ;) ).
    Post edited by Rym on
  • tuttle88tuttle88
    edited October 2006
    Berlin is my second favourite city in the world: I was confuddled by the kiwi, them being New Zealandish.
    Post edited by Rym on
  • StarfoxStarfox
    Is the 24-hour clock standard in Germany (20:00 instead of 8:00 PM, etc.)?
  • kiwi_birdkiwi_bird
    edited October 2006
    @tuttle88: Cool, but I hate Berlin ;) and I don't live in Berlin. I use Kiwi because they're my favorite animal...

    @starfox: Yes, we have the 24h clock.
    Post edited by Rym on
  • tuttle88tuttle88
    You HATE Berlin! Berlin is awesome!
  • AndrewAndrew
    You HATE Berlin! Berlin is awesome!
    Meh, it's ok.
  • kiwi_birdkiwi_bird
    edited October 2006
    Its way too big to live! Where I live, I just walk 15mins into the city....
    Post edited by Rym on
  • trogdor9trogdor9
    Chick-Fil-A, a mostly southern chicken sandwich chain, is closed every Sunday "to let employees go to church" or something like that.
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