Opening hours - Store closures: majority of retailers don't want any longer
The Bavarian trade has no interest in extending shop opening hours on weekdays. "The large majority of our members want to keep the shop closing time at 8:00 pm," says Bernd Ohlmann, the managing director of the Bavarian Trade Association. "More than two-thirds of them hold this view - among them large companies across all sectors, including textile and food retailing." However, there are certainly other voices that wish for the relaxation of shop opening hours.
Currently, work is being carried out on a separate shop closing law in Bavaria. Unlike in neighboring countries, the relatively restrictive old federal regulation still applies in the Free State, although the states have been able to take the issue of shop opening hours into their own hands since 2006.
Little additional business through longer opening hours
"We already don't have enough staff," explains Ohlmann, which is why the majority in the trade is opposed to extending opening hours. And in times of purchasing restraint, additional opening hours would hardly attract additional customers. These could spend every euro only once. Therefore, a significant extension would not be economically viable for the majority. This has also been shown in other federal states. After initial enthusiasm, much has been scaled back again. It is mainly the large food retailers that have remained open beyond 8:00 pm.
Looking across the border, for example to Baden-Württemberg, one finds a picture that fits Ohlmann's statements. In food retailing, there are - with differences between chains - most frequently shops open from 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm, and sometimes even later. In other shops - from DIY stores to fashion and drugstores to department stores - there are fewer that remain open after 8:00 pm.
Desired things other than later shop closing
However, other things are on the wish list of the Bavarian trade than a later shop closing: Above all, it goes around shop open on Sundays and shopping nights. Regarding the latter, the association wishes that the currently valid occasion-related requirement would fall away. For Sundays, the association is satisfied with the currently allowed four per year, for shopping nights it wishes for some per year and commune instead of the current one. And for automated small supermarkets, the association wants them to be able to open on Sundays if it is ensured that no one has to work on Sundays.
However, some of these wishes collide with resistance. Churches and trade unions have been successful in the past in opposing shop open Sundays. Verdi has already announced in the spring that it wants to "decisively resist all attacks on the free Sunday" in the future.
On the other hand, parts of the Young Union have recently demanded significantly later shop closing hours. That they are being criticized seems unlikely - not only because the trade does not want this, but also because Social Minister Ulrike Scharf (CSU) has already made it clear that she does not want to poke around the 8:00 pm limit.
- Despite the interest of some voices, the Bavarian Trade Association, led by Bernd Ohlmann, maintains that most members prefer keeping shop closing hours at 8:00 pm, even in the retail sectors like textile and food retailing.
- Currently, the Bavarian government is working on a separate shop closing law, as the federal regulation, which is more restrictive than in neighboring countries, still applies, despite states having the authority to determine shop opening hours since 2006.
- Extending opening hours beyond 8:00 pm does not seem appealing to the majority of retailers due to staffing issues and the belief that it won't attract significant additional customers, as proven in other states.
- In nearby Baden-Württemberg, shops in the food retail sector remain open most frequently until 10:00 pm or later, whereas less stores from other sectors like DIY, fashion, and pharmacies stay open past 8:00 pm.
- Apart from extended opening hours, the Bavarian trade association has other wishes, such as allowing shops to open on Sundays beyond the currently allowed four occasions per year, and obtaining more commune-based shopping night permits.
- However, their wishes for Sunday trading and shopping nights face resistance from entities like churches and trade unions, while younger politicians from the Young Union have recently expressed support for significantly later shop closing hours, which is opposed by the trade and Social Minister Ulrike Scharf.
