Sunday Shopping
England has this really dumb rule about Sunday opening hours- it’s only been in the past decade or so that shops (major chains) are allowed to open on Sundays- but only for 6 hours maximum. Scotland of course has a more pragmatic approach to opening and is far more flexible.
To get around the issue of only being allowed to open for 6hrs, many big chains allow people to browse for 30mins before the tills open (therefore maximising the amount of time by ensuring a full potential of 6hrs is available for transactions to take place). Typically stores open at 10:30, 30 mins browsing, then the tills open from 11AM-5PM.
Last Sunday morning I had to go to John Lewis and so decided to get in early. Of course Starbucks was closed (like any Starbucks in Cambridge it has the shortest opening times of any Starbucks I had been to in the world) so ended up grabbing a coffee at the place directly opposite from the John Lewis entrance. Here’s the view I had at around 10:27…
11AM and I’m at the till with the purchases. Of course there’s the obligatory middle-aged woman messing around with a trivial transaction taking about 10 times longer than normal. Purse secured in handbag in a manner that the ancient Egyptian tomb-builders would be proud of, such that it takes about 5 minutes to find it. Then the usual thought process of how to pay, then usually a random question, etc. etc. Finally get to pay (note to anyone who happened to be in the queue with me- I don’t have tourettes I just swear a lot when I’m frustrated and have no shame).
Next off to Ecco to get some shoes:
Yep, misaligned opening times. I have yet again to stand around for 25mins as the lazy folks in the Ecco store can’t get out their bed at the same time as everyone else ! Total and utter joke (and they only open for 5hrs on a Sunday).
Is there really a recession on ? By the attitude of Cambridge shops I really don’t think so !!