Path: utzoo!attcan!telly!evan
From: evan@telly.on.ca (Evan Leibovitch)
Newsgroups: ont.general
Subject: Sunday shopping: Is there a middle ground?
Message-ID: <25945410.6564@telly.on.ca>
Date: 24 Dec 89 04:43:59 GMT
Distribution: ont
Organization: Public Access Usenet, Brampton, Ontario
Lines: 60

Look, folks, this ain't the abortion issue. It isn't life and death.
And I can't believe that it's got to be an either-or situation either.

Though the religious and most other arguments against Sunday opening have
fallen by the wayside, it's difficult to refute someone saying that
full-blown openings will hurt families who barely get Sunday together, as
it is. Hell knows, society (with, it seems, government blessing) doesn't
to much to encourage tight family units these days.

I can't be drawn into an discussion which says that the marketplace must
take priority over things like that. But I also can't believe this is an
issue with no middle ground.

I do, as a premise, believe that just as there are those who do not
object to shopping Sundays, there would be retail workers who would
not object to working Sundays (without coersion) instead of, say,
Mondays or Tuesdays. I will grant, however, that these people may
comprise only a small portion of the entire retail workforce.
I'm just not sure.

While I have already shown my biases on this issue, I have a hard time
believing that the "Committee for Fair Shopping" (or whatever they call
themselves) is really looking out for the consumer's interest. Larger
stores and chains know that they can handle Sunday openings better than
smaller stores, and their interest is only in increasing market share.

I'm wondering if a kind of limited Sunday opening, less limited than
presently exists but stopping short of wide-open might be possible.

Is it possible to restrict stores allowed to open Sunday by certain
criteria? For instance, we allow Becker and Mac's food stores to open
while the larger chains must close. But if you buy food at one of these
stores, you usually pay more for the privilege.

Can we not apply this to hardware and other kinds of retailers?
Only allow, say, stores under a certain square-footage to open Sunday?

This might make it profitable enough for the small, ma-and-pa stores
to hire extra staff without affecting the bulk of the employers, the
large chains. Who knows? This could even offer an environment which
encourages new small retailers, a field which is traditionally one of
the most risky for a virgin entrepreneur?

(Bias alert - I am none too pleased at the concentration of the retail
industry in the hands of a very small number of companies. I'd love to
find a way to give smaller operations a chance to compete.)

There are other criteria with which one could limit Sunday shopping
without totally restricting it. I just can't believe there's no possible
compromise which would allow most retail workers to stay home Sundays,
while giving an outlet to those who want to do some shopping (or may not
be able to elsewhere in the week?)

The present criteria, of designating "tourist areas", or just certain
categories (like "drug" stores, such as Hy&Zel's) is a sham. There
must be something better.
-- 
  Evan Leibovitch, Sound Software, located in beautiful Brampton, Ontario
          evan@telly.on.ca / uunet!attcan!telly!evan / (416)452-0504
   "That's the last time I buy aftershave at a gas station" - Sam Malone