Time to compromise on retail trading

I RECENTLY spent five blissful days enjoying all that Margaret River and the region had to offer.

It was school holidays and the township was humming, particularly the shops in the town’s main street.

Big business and small business appeared to be thriving.

A main street deli was doing a roaring trade in take-home packs of gourmet heat-and-serve dinners – the perfect end-of-day meal for our party of travellers worn out from wine tasting and underground caving.

Meanwhile, over at the local Coles supermarket, the business was permitted to trade from 8am to 7pm, seven days a week.

I rang a mate from Perth who was spending the same week in Broome.

He too marvelled at the convenience of the local Woolworths stores being allowed to open not just from 7am to 9pm, but also across seven days.

In Broome, it means locals and tourists alike enjoy the convenience of shopping where and when they like.

When I lived in the Northern Territory a few years ago, my local Coles and Woolworths were allowed to trade 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Security staff there were forced to fumble with the keys that lock up the front doors on just two days of the year – Good Friday, and on Christmas Day.

Okay, nobody seems to be interested in opening up the debate over Sunday trading in Perth, but momentum is growing for extending weekday trading.

In Perth, the city’s absurd trading laws are supposed to protect consumers from the “predation” of the nation’s two biggest retailers, Woolworths and Coles.

The irony is that protectionism in the city is exposing consumers to rampant price gouging, while permitting a Sunday monopoly for another retail chain, the network of IGA stores.

Extending weekday trading to 9pm would at least meet the champions of deregulated shopping hours half-way.

What everyone else is thinking

Brian Bell

15/12/2009

All this rubbish about protecting small business. I'm sorry I don't buy it on two fronts.
Why are IGA allowed extended hours when they are a bigger business than the small local deli.
Why are Bunnings allowed extended hours when there are still small hardware stores around the place.
Sorry - be consistant that's all we ask.

Margaret

07/11/2009

Possibly one reason some business people do not want deregulated shopping hours is this business of penalty rates. If the person is employed as their standard hours are evenings from 5pm to say 9pm then that should be paid at normal rates , if their standard hours are all day saturday, sunday monday tuesday then surely it should be paid as standard hours. If they work longer hours than is recorded as their standard hour contract then naturally they should be paid overtime but I do think this idea of penalty rates is as much to blame as is peoples reluctance to embrace change

Tracy

02/11/2009

Oh garsh what a load...!
Better to keep people employed and doing posative things than being bored and doing other things when there is no where to go after 6pm!
You & I, the consumers are the ones paying for the silly restricted hours of business!!!
It's just so old & outdated!
Why is it that the government decides when shops can be open?! Honestly people are so scared of change even when it is for the better!
Get with the times folks allow extended hours!
And there is still a choice of which hours you prefer to work many might enjoy working the later hours!!

Bob

28/10/2009

I'd personally like to see a debate set up between Eric Ripper & the Premier, because frankly Ripper is just playing politics with trading hours to the detriment of people in WA. A change to trading laws is long over due.
I don't think Eric Ripper has a leg to stand on & is just being difficult for the sake of it. Colin Barnett at least has the guts to stand up & be counted, he may not be Mr Charizma, but he has a lot of integrity & really is trying to do the right thing for the state, Ripper is just being bloody minded & obstructionalist in blocking this.
He was hopeless when Labor where in power, his portfolio was Energy & we had so many power cuts because he was an ineffective manager. Now as leader.......basically because no one else wants it, his tactics are just to oppose Liberal. Stop playing politics Eric & let the government govern.

Max

27/10/2009

Protectionism is the death of free trade. Why do politicians get to say when everyone else can shop?

julie

Fir goodness sake get with the times Perth. If people don't want to shop at deregulated times they don't have to, neither do the shops have to open if the customers don't come. Just give people the choice.

skotup

22/10/2009

kim tan, when i work sunday, i am payed double time, thats good for me and good for the ecconomy... but ide rather be without that extra cash, a poorer ecconommy and have a free sunday. It seems money isnt everything that i want, otherwise i would never stop working. For every1 else, they would rather me disrupt my life for the bennefit of themselfs and the ecconomy. Why does the australian stock exchange have an opening time, a closing time and the weekend off? would it not be better for the ecconomy and all of us if it opperated 24/7? The argument that what ever is best for the ecconomy should be the basis on which we make all decisions ignores and neglects everything else we value. Nor can we make decisions bases soley on other critea such as the environment and safety while we neglect the ecconomic benefit. All factors need to be considered in any decision, including its social impact.

kim tan

21/10/2009

I find it so unbelievable, the peculiar and absurd trading policies in Perth when i first arrived, that i am still having difficulties trying to understand the mental processes behind it. I find it even more laughable that the flagrantly obvious benefits of 'free trade" actually has to be painstakingly explained and forced down people's throats in Perth. It's exasperating that people actually think there are any long term benefits and positive outcome of this"protectionism" mentality. Seriously, who are you benefitting by severely restricting consumer rights to fair prices and access to variety? Neither the consumer nor the retailer in the long term. Most modern mainstream ecnonomists will agree, as a consensus that Protectionism is harmful, limiting, anti-globalisation and the very posion of economic progress. In the short term, consumers suffer, in the long term, it'll crippled the competitive muscle of retailers, causing inefficiency.

R Preston

Sure extend retail trading hours - but who is going to work the extra late night hours and Sundays?
My sister and I were at Karrinyup shopping for womens fashion yesterday and experienced the following at one of the major department stores:
One out of the two fitting rooms on the 1st floor ladies fashion area was closed. There was a queue at the one fitting room that was open and the staff member apologised that the service was slow because they were short staffed.
We then had to wait nearly 10 minutes at the cashier desk because there wasnt anyone there to serve us.
If a major department store can't even get enough staff on a Tuesday morning at 1000am what hope is there on late nights or Sundays especially for small businesses?
If I had the choice to enjoy my Sunday with family & friends or work on a Sunday at the shops...I know which one I would choose everytime!

20/10/2009

The covenience it provides to those who work during normal business hours is far outweighed by the disruption it causes to the lives of those forced to work late which is not just the direct retail workers. We have enough problems in society with our youth, caused by lack of parental guidance, such as drugs and late night drunken violence. We talk about tougher penalties and more policing but never look at the cause of these problems and where society went wrong. Well here comes the next antisocial generation and those pushing for deregulated shopping hours will be those saying back in my day kids had respect, its time to bring back traditional values.