Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think there are too many factors that can make it impossible to standardize hours of operation.
In extreme South Florida, it's common for stores to stay open later because there is such an emphasis on nightlife. In more rural/farming areas I'd imagine they would open earlier since the people often are up and about much earlier in the morning. The joke about retirement communities like The Villages and Naples is that "dinner is served at 4pm". The stores serving those communities likely would close earlier. Businesses in and around airports or hospitals (places that are on a 24/7 schedule) could probably support a 24/7 schedule, also, as they serve the employees of those places who have odd schedules. There are some smaller towns with restrictions on when businesses can be open (closing before a certain hour, Blue Laws, etc.) that have been in places for generations.
And that's just in one state. You can't adopt one rule that will make everyone happy; the best you can hope for is to tailor your business's schedule to make it convenient for the largest number of people, all while keeping your finances (labor $$) under control. It's up to the individual business owner to recognize when they have the best chance to do the most business and adjust their schedules accordingly.
Other -
Non Covid - we do have a Walmart within 20 mins of us that is open 24 hrs, if need be. Although we [Our family] do not.
Other stores nearby - take no real issue with their hours. Presently, have no need to go at odd hours. When I was working, may have thought to stop in on way and pick up "goodies" for office get-togetherness. Early AM commuter.
Covid - one store for senior citizens and/or immune compromised had some very early morning time slots. Now that I'm retired, I don't have to get up as early. I don't normally go out that early for shopping and am wondering how many others feel that way? I'm not sure if the store rotated the shopping hours for this group.
They could have. That would be nice but I suppose, confusing for some - especially if you did not know they were doing that.
Late evening (9pm) to early morning (5am) as that is when I like to shop; realized I need something; got the munchies; getting home from my day. During those later hours you don't have the mom pushing a cart while trying to corral her 2 kids, or those pesky senior who can't reach anything 3 feet off the ground, or the olfs who spend 10 minutes clogging an aisle while hunting for the coupon in their bag of coupons, or.... So many reasons why some stores should consider staying closed in the day and only open at night.
Late evening (9pm) to early morning (5am) as that is when I like to shop; realized I need something; got the munchies; getting home from my day. During those later hours you don't have the mom pushing a cart while trying to corral her 2 kids, or those pesky senior who can't reach anything 3 feet off the ground, or the olfs who spend 10 minutes clogging an aisle while hunting for the coupon in their bag of coupons, or.... So many reasons why some stores should consider staying closed in the day and only open at night.
Well, if stores were only open at night, and that's the only time people were able to shop, you would run into all those problems.
That's why I put other. There's not a 12 hour window where everyone can shop. Some people shop later in the evening, after 10pm, while some like to shop early in the morning well before 10am. I prefer evening since it's less crowded, and for some reason stores around here all restock their shelves during the first few hours of business. It's impossible to get any shopping done when their are pallets of merchandise blocking every other aisle.
Location: Removing a snake out of the neighbor's washing machine
3,095 posts, read 2,043,304 times
Reputation: 2305
So that partially explains why we have Daylight Saving Time! To darken the mornings so people can sleep later, still get to work, and have some daylight to shop by after work!
I'm not likely to go shopping before noon, and it's sometimes nice to be able to shop late, so I'd like my favorite stores to be open at least noon to 9 pm.
It would probably be most useful if stores staggered their hours somewhat, so if you sometimes need a widget at 6 am, one store would be open, and if you suddenly have a midnight urge for a whatchamacallit, another store would be open.
I prefer evening since it's less crowded, and for some reason stores around here all restock their shelves during the first few hours of business. It's impossible to get any shopping done when their are pallets of merchandise blocking every other aisle.
WalMart seems to have the opposite schedule. If I go in either of the two local WMs after 5pm, the shelves are picked over, and around 7pm they start hauling pallets of material out onto the sales floor to restock those shelves. They have workers work overnight to get everything filled, so the in-stock condition is best in the early morning. I can see why they do this, since having the aisles clogged up with pallets during the day would be a fiasco.
In smaller stores they may have a daytime stocking situation simply because the full-time workers (especially department managers and upper management) are all there in the daytime and the building is unoccupied at night.
Quote:
So that partially explains why we have Daylight Saving Time!
Now that you mention it, I recall working in a store that adjusted its hours of operation with DST. In summer we'd stay open until 9pm, but in winter we'd close at 7pm. But that was the 1990s, and people are no longer afraid of the dark.
Location: Removing a snake out of the neighbor's washing machine
3,095 posts, read 2,043,304 times
Reputation: 2305
Quote:
Originally Posted by DanielAvery
WalMart seems to have the opposite schedule. If I go in either of the two local WMs after 5pm, the shelves are picked over, and around 7pm they start hauling pallets of material out onto the sales floor to restock those shelves. They have workers work overnight to get everything filled, so the in-stock condition is best in the early morning. I can see why they do this, since having the aisles clogged up with pallets during the day would be a fiasco.
In smaller stores they may have a daytime stocking situation simply because the full-time workers (especially department managers and upper management) are all there in the daytime and the building is unoccupied at night.
Now that you mention it, I recall working in a store that adjusted its hours of operation with DST. In summer we'd stay open until 9pm, but in winter we'd close at 7pm. But that was the 1990s, and people are no longer afraid of the dark.
RE: DST:
My point was that because Americans prefer to "live so late" in general(staying up until midnight or later even on school or work nights, watching TV or internet, etc.and not getting up until 7-8am next day), dry goods stores and other businesses have over time shifted their opening and closing times later and later in the day. This has resulted in two months being added to the original 1966 six-months DST/six months Standard time schedule.
I am the SOLE U.S. citizen who prefers year-round standard time, and detests the effect of DST on sunrises especially - it delays them by one hour, so that it is dark when I get up in March, April, September, October, and early November. It's actually lighter by 6am in February and most of November than it is at 6am in March, April, and October because DST has no business being observed in months where the period from sunset to sunrise(night) is longer than the period from sunrise to sunset(day). I studied the original 1800s proposals for advanced time so that is how I know these things.
I'm up by 6am year round, working or not, and prefer to conduct all my shopping and other errands before work, or by 9am at the latest. That would include shopping for clothes or electronics, if that were possible, not just groceries. 9-10pm? I'm horizontal - although here even in CT that's a challenge in late June and July because DST delays dusk until after 9pm then.
Plus, I'm also considering the family lives of retail associates: if a store is open from 7am to 7pm, the closing shift still has some evening hours to be with their family before heading off to sleep.
Last edited by TheGrandK-Man; 07-22-2020 at 06:34 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
