SATURDAY CLOSING

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 9, Issue 58, 3 April 1946, Page 5

SATURDAY CLOSING

EFFECT ON BUSINESS

VIEWS OF LOCAL RETAILERS “The Saturday closing has had no effect whatsoever on turnover and although work during the remainder of the week has increased slightly the whole situation seems satisfactory. In fact the only ones who are complaining are the customers.” In this manner did one local businessman who was interviewed on the question of how the fiveday week, with Saturday morning closed, had affected retailers, sum up the situation. A ‘Beacon’ representative, with a view to discovering the general effect upon turnover, since the introduction of the full Saturday holiday, visited a number of prominent businessmen engaged in all lines of trade and sought to make some comparison with the average five and a half day shopping week of the past. It is now approximately a month since the change was made, a period sufficiently long enough to obtain a genuine indication of the effect upon the shopping barometer of Whakatane. Turnover Not Affected The main finding was, that turnover has not been "affected in any way whatsoever, during the five weeks the closing scheme has been in operation. In some cases, it has even increased, although this is probably due to outside factors. The reason for turnover remaining at the same level is put forward by provision merchants as being due to the fact that the goods necessary, and therefore they must be procured, regardless of whether the purchases

are made on a Saturday morning or during the week. It simply means that an extra day must be provided for when no provisions will be obtainable. With regard to mercery, drapery and such, clothes must be bought in any case, and the final result is the same, whether they be bought at the weekend, or on the Monday following. One fact noticeable, and remarked upon by one men’s outfitter was that there now appeared to be more wives shopping for their husbands who were unable to get into town while the shop§ were open. Matinees Suffer Notable exceptions to the general opinion that turnover has not suffered are those places in the town which cater solely for crowds, such as the theatres, milk bars, and restaurants. Some of these, in fact, declare that they may be forced in the future to close on Saturday also. Amusements have suffered particularly heavily. Attendance at matinees at the theatres in the afternoon has dropped considerably whilst the morning session which was started at the Regent before Christmas has had to be abandoned altogether. An opinion was also expressed that had Saturday morning closing not been in force, much greater business would have been done by the Amusement Park, which was staged in Whakatane recently in connection with the R.S.A. Memorial Appeal Fund..

Work Evenly Spread Generally, it appears that the Saturday trade is spread over the remainder of the week, and not merely Friday alone. In most cases, Friday night is busier, and lasts approximately an hour longer than before, but it has not reached the peak ex-

pected. An interesting sidelight is that a number of businesses now have to act as bankers for customers who are unable to visit town on any but a Friday night, and consequently cash a large number of weekly cheques. In the majority of cases, a full Saturday holiday seems to be fulfilling its purpose without causing excessive disruption, and the time cannot be far distant when all workers will enjoy a full weekend, or its equivalent time off, for recreation.