Is it time to stay open past 9pm? (Atlanta, Decatur: house, contractor)

[Iconographer]

It really just boils down to whether the additional cost of staying open is justified by the incremental increase in business. It's not a public service we're talking about.

[devin1229]

Originally Posted by DTL3000

I think you are overestimating the amount of shoppers who'd be out past 9pm to justify a lot of stores staying open past then.

I dunno... I lived in Orlando for 7 years and every store there, including the malls, stayed open until 10 (9 on Sundays). Even at 9:30 these places were pretty crowded. I guess you could argue that it's because of the tourist nature of the city, but I don't think so -- this was everywhere, including way out in the suburbs like 35 miles away from Disney.

[JoeTarheel]

Originally Posted by devin1229

I dunno... I lived in Orlando for 7 years and every store there, including the malls, stayed open until 10 (9 on Sundays). Even at 9:30 these places were pretty crowded. I guess you could argue that it's because of the tourist nature of the city, but I don't think so -- this was everywhere, including way out in the suburbs like 35 miles away from Disney.

I would be surprised if that hasn't changed since you lived there...with the advent of online shopping and the current state of retail, many stores and malls have cut back on hours of operation.

[JoeTarheel]

Originally Posted by devin1229

I dunno... I lived in Orlando for 7 years and every store there, including the malls, stayed open until 10 (9 on Sundays). Even at 9:30 these places were pretty crowded. I guess you could argue that it's because of the tourist nature of the city, but I don't think so -- this was everywhere, including way out in the suburbs like 35 miles away from Disney.

Actually I just looked up a handful of Orlando malls and they all close at 9:00 pm M-S and 6:00 pm on Sunday.

[lorilove]

Originally Posted by devin1229

I dunno... I lived in Orlando for 7 years and every store there, including the malls, stayed open until 10 (9 on Sundays). Even at 9:30 these places were pretty crowded. I guess you could argue that it's because of the tourist nature of the city, but I don't think so -- this was everywhere, including way out in the suburbs like 35 miles away from Disney.

That sounds like Christmas hours - most big box stores and malls extend their hours during the holiday season

[erick295]

Originally Posted by lorilove

That sounds like Christmas hours - most big box stores and malls extend their hours during the holiday season

Yeah, I actually lived there for almost 20 years and don't remember anything being open that late. The gold standard was 9:00. Of course that was back in the 80's/90's...

[cittic10]

I lived in Orlando and everything was always packed and zoo-like. It wouldn't matter what time of day. You could count on traffic and waiting in lines in every store.

I avoid malls at all cost but those times don't sound quite right to me either.

[devin1229]

Originally Posted by lorilove

That sounds like Christmas hours - most big box stores and malls extend their hours during the holiday season

Nah, this was all the time not just during the holidays. I guess they did scale it back -- I moved away from there back in 2007. Although I did notice that the Mall at Millennia is open until 7 on Sundays. The Orlando Premium Outlets are open M-S to 11 P.M. and Sundays until 9, but that's most likely because it's right next door to Disney World.

[ATLTJL]

Orlando has tons of 24 hour and extended hour businesses along International Drive and near the Walt Disney World Village.

I don't know if you would call it a true 24 area, but it's pretty close. At least it used to be, I haven't been there in some years, I know they used to do this.

BTW, I'd trade 130 24 hour Waffle Houses for just a handful of 24 hour Perkins!

[arjay57]

If there's a demand for later hours I'm sure businesses will do it.