Did you mean | Travel | Economics | Finance | Marketing | Business | Culture | Geography | History | Life | Mathematics | Science | Society | Technology | New site added |
Sunday shopping refers to the ability of retailers to operate stores on Sundays, in countries where Christian tradition typically require a "day of rest". Rules governing Sunday shopping vary around the world but most European nations continue to not allow Sunday shopping, although it has been introduced in the Netherlands and Sweden.
CanadaIn 1982, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the Lord's Day Act. However, at that time, only the Canadian Bill of Rights existed. That document only protected existing Canadian rights. As a result, the Court noted that Canada was an overwhelmingly Christian country that had accepted Sunday closing laws for years. The Court determined that the Lord's Day Act did not force people to practise Christianity or stop practising their own religion. However, later that year, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was introduced, ensuring freedom of conscience and religion, regardless of existing federal or provincial laws. On April 24, 1985 - the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Lord's Day Act violated Canadians' freedom of religion. The 1985 ruling examined the original purpose of the act. It found that the Christian value of keeping the Sabbath holy had been incorporated into a law that affected all Canadians, Christian or not. This law -- the Lord's Day Act -- prevented non-Christians from performing otherwise legal activities on Sundays. This was inconsistent with the Canadian charter. Nova Scotia is the only Canadian province that still prohibits Sunday shopping. It did experiment with the practice in 2003, and in 2004 held binding plebiscite. Results from the plebiscite were 45% in favour of Sunday shopping and 55% voting against it. Nova Scotia's Retail Business Uniform Closing Day Act allows some stores, such as video rental outlets and book stores, to open on Sundays, but department stores must remain closed. Several other provinces have restrictions of some degree on Sunday shopping: in Prince Edward Island, it is only permitted in the four weeks leading to Christmas; in Manitoba it requires municipal approval and it is only permitted for six hours each day; and in New Brunswick the decisions require dual approval from municipal and provincial officials (although that is in the process of being changed), otherwise it is only permitted from July to December. Quebec allows wide-open shopping until 5:00 pm, and the other provinces allow wide-open shopping all day on most Sundays (except when it falls on a holiday or when objected by municipalities). United StatesMany stores in the United States have reduced hours of operation on Sundays (most often 11 am or 12 noon to 5 or 6 pm), although the recent trend has led to expansion. A few local municipalities still prohibit Sunday shopping, and many others prohibit it until a certain time (most often 12 noon or 1 pm), especially in regard to selling alcohol. One of the last major areas to completely prohibit Sunday shopping is Bergen County, New Jersey. This area contains one of the largest and most popular commercial shopping cores of the New York metropolitan area (for example, one of three local Ikea stores is found here, the store is the only one in the United States to be closed on Sunday). Ironically, the area is not considered to be particularly religious compared to the U.S. population at large; and it also has significant Jewish and Muslim populations whose observent members would not be celebrating the Sabbath on Sunday. But attempts to repeal the law have failed as many locals either like to keep the law on the books as a protest against the growing trend of increased Sunday shopping activity in American society or fear the potential increase of Sunday traffic on major local roads such as Rt. 4 or Rt. 17. Some local Orthodox Jews who are off both days of the weekend have complained about the law because it limits their ability to get shopping done on the weekend without having to travel to a neighboring county as religious beliefs prohibit shopping on Friday night or on Saturday before sunset, which in the summer can be right before most department stores and malls close. Some stores are synonomous with being always open on Sunday and holidays. Two examples are L.L. Bean in Freeport, Maine, and Meijer in the Midwest. L.L. Bean is open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day; and Meijer is open 364 days a year (closed Christmas), 24 hours a day. United KingdomSunday trading in England and Wales was not generally permitted until 1994. This meant that shops such as department stores and supermarkets were not able to open legally. A number of specialist outlets were able to open legally, including garden centres, small "corner" or family run shops, and chemists. There was opposition to the legal reform from the campaign known as Keep Sunday Special. Several large outlets challenged the legal ruling in force before 1994 by opening on Sundays, and the eventual outcome was that large stores are now able to open for up to 6 hours on Sunday between the hours of 10am and 6pm, in practice this means that they open from 10am to 4pm or 11am to 5pm or 12pm to 6pm. Supermarkets usually open from 10am-4pm, whereas most other businesses open (and close) later. There are still some constraints on what can be sold (for example, alcoholic drinks), and Christmas Day and Easter Sunday have been excluded as trading days. This applies even to garden centres, which earlier had been trading over Easter. Details of the changes to the legislation are included in the Sunday Trading Act 1994. In Scotland, there was no specific legislation regarding Sunday trading, it being left to the discretion of local councils. Consequently, opening hours are longer than in England and Wales, and large supermarkets remain open '24-7'. In the Western Isles, where the Free Church of Scotland has a considerable following, until recently there has been virtually no commercial activity on Sundays. In Northern Ireland, where Protestant churches have even more influence, Sunday opening hours are more limited, usually for four hours between 1pm and 5pm. GermanyIn Germany, opening hours have long been restricted. Traditionally, shops have closed for the weekend at 2pm on a Saturday and 6:30pm on weeknights, with opening until 4pm on Saturday only allowed once a month, in what is known as the Langer Samstag, or 'long Saturday', but shops now may open until 8pm from Monday to Saturday. 'Long Saturday' does no longer exist. The federal government recently decided against lifting restrictions on Sunday opening, which is confined to some small bakeries and convenience stores inside railway stations and airports. However, there are plans to let the regional governments decide on opening times on weekdays instead of the federal government. There is still strong resistance of church and politics against Sunday shopping. AustraliaAs in Canada, the situation in Australia is not uniform, as each of its States and Territories has its own different laws. Historically, shops closed for the weekend on Saturday afternoons, with South Australia being the first state to allow Saturday afternoon opening. Most states now allow Sunday opening for up to seven hours a week, at least in metropolitan areas, but in Western Australia it was rejected in a referendum held in February 2005. New ZealandNew Zealand, which banned trading on Saturday and Sunday completely between 1945 and 1980, liberalised shopping hours in 1989. Shops may open at any time, with the exception of Good Friday, ANZAC Day and Christmas Day. However, outside the main cities, shops still close for the weekend on Saturday afternoons. BelgiumBelgium has practically no trading on a Sunday. On certain Sundays throughout the year trading is allowed, although this typically only takes place in places with high tourism. See alsoExternal LinkWhat does Sunday shopping mean ? Search with Google !Article on Sunday shopping, category, different spelling or sense |
|
Did you mean: Culture | Geography | History | Life | Mathematics | Science | Society | Technology Economy finance business money economy: Economics | Finance | Marketing | Business | Money | Real Estate | Insurance | Retirement | Microeconomics | Economics Top Search: Kazaa | Sex | Pornography | Games | MySpace | Google | Ebay | Paris Hilton | Carmen Electra | Jessica Simpson | Eminem | MapQuest | Dogs | Jokes | Obituaries | MSN Messenger | Splogs | Ringtones | Casino | Poker | Gambling | Lyrics | Anime | Continents and countries in the world: Japan | United Kingdom | Canada | France | Amsterdam | Monaco | Spain | Capitals Cities | Continents | World | Americas | North America | South America | Europe | Africa | Eurasia | Oceania | Antarctica | Asia | Australia A web travel guide for your holidays, hotel and plane tickets: Travel guide and holidays French Version, guide de voyage dans le monde: Voyage et vacances Visit partners of Did you mean Travel: Partners Site Map articles begining from 0 to 9 and A to Z: Site Map 0 to A | Site Map B to C | Site Map D to Z Cours d'anglais, cours de langues pour debutant: Cours d'anglais Annuaire france regions et tourisme: Annuaire OuiX Sexe sur AbSexe, videos porno et annuaire sexe: Ab Sexe Url Rewriting by Atuvu Referencement This work is licensed under a GNU Free Documentation License. Texts derived from WikiPedia Sunday shopping ©2006 Did you mean Copyright Notice Page Sunday shopping cached on Saturday 30th of August 2008 12:07:50 PM |