Garrrgh, hate Sunday trading hours!

[erikab922]

I've been in the UK for 10 years now and the one thing I have yet to get used to is Sunday trading hours. Especially now, when I'm ragingly sick and need to get some more medicine but there are no pharmacies open until 10.30am. The closest 'late' pharmacy is 10 miles away and it closes at 10pm on Saturday and doesn't open until 10.30am on Sunday. I'm thinking back to where I used to live back home and there'd be like 10 pharmacies within a 15 minute drive, or at least places where I could pick up some Theraflu or something. And it's only just me who is sick, I can't imagine if LO was properly ill and I couldn't get her any medicine - I think I'd be beside myself!

Rant over!

 

[Ktothema]

It does suck. They relaxed it over the Olympics but no one took it up by much.

 

[erikab922]

It does suck. They relaxed it over the Olympics but no one took it up by much.

Ah yes, I think the Morrisons near us was open like an extra hour - woo hoo!!!!

 

[jenkins]

I find it annoying and it's nothing new for me so must be much worse when you're not used to it!

So in the US is Sunday just like a normal day? Or are banks closed but shops open normally?

X

 

[erikab922]

I find it annoying and it's nothing new for me so must be much worse when you're not used to it!

So in the US is Sunday just like a normal day? Or are banks closed but shops open normally?

X

I lived in Chicago so everything was open pretty much all the time, loads of pharmacies were open 24hrs, banks open on Sundays, if it was 3am and you needed cough medicine and a stack of pancakes you could still have a choice of where to go. Looking back I was really spoiled, and you really miss it when you're sitting here just desperate for relief. Just texted my neighbour who, oddly enough, is from Boston (US, not Lincolnshire ) and she said the Bargain Booze at the end of our road opens at 6am even on a Sunday and will have it. Only in Britain eh!

 

[jenkins]

I find it annoying and it's nothing new for me so must be much worse when you're not used to it!

So in the US is Sunday just like a normal day? Or are banks closed but shops open normally?

X

I lived in Chicago so everything was open pretty much all the time, loads of pharmacies were open 24hrs, banks open on Sundays, if it was 3am and you needed cough medicine and a stack of pancakes you could still have a choice of where to go. Looking back I was really spoiled, and you really miss it when you're sitting here just desperate for relief. Just texted my neighbour who, oddly enough, is from Boston (US, not Lincolnshire ) and she said the
Bargain Booze at the end of our road opens at 6am even on a Sunday and will have it. Only in Britain eh!

Haha yeah, they can't even sell booze until a certain can they - much more logical than a pharmacy being open lol!

I personally feel like the Sunday trading laws are very old fashioned and counter productive - but that's a whole other debate lol

Hope you feel better soon

 

[Samiam03]

I find it annoying and it's nothing new for me so must be much worse when you're not used to it!

So in the US is Sunday just like a normal day? Or are banks closed but shops open normally?

X

I lived in Chicago so everything was open pretty much all the time, loads of pharmacies were open 24hrs, banks open on Sundays, if it was 3am and you needed cough medicine and a stack of pancakes you could still have a choice of where to go. Looking back I was really spoiled, and you really miss it when you're sitting here just desperate for relief. Just texted my neighbour who, oddly enough, is from Boston (US, not Lincolnshire ) and she said the Bargain Booze at the end of our road opens at 6am even on a Sunday and will have it. Only in Britain eh!

It isn't just a uk thing. I live in the south (us) and it is the bible belt down here...so everything only opens at noon and closes at 6 in my area on Sunday. It is awful.

 

[erikab922]

BARGAIN BOOZE FOR THE WIN! Can't believe I'd been sat here for an hour and a half like a sucker when Bargain Booze has been open since 6am. Went and got some medicine, just took it and am waiting for DH and baby to wake up so I can go to bed. Pharmacy? No no no. Bargain Booze? Yes yes yes. So weird!

 

[Reno]

The Sunday trading hours in northern Ireland are 1pm-6pm! apart from a few garages, nothing is open! Supermarkets and a few bigger shops opens at 12.30, so you can go in and do your shopping but you just have to queue at the tills until 1!

 

[SpringerS]

They are very weird. I used to find it so funny when we first moved to the UK to see 24 hour supermarkets that had to specify that their opening hours were 12am-12am Mon to Sat, 12pm-6pm Sun. It confused the hell out of me. Though at least in London all shops that were small enough were open all hours, so you could get pretty much everything. In Swansea all of the supermarkets are open from 10-4 on a Sunday which is odd, 12-6 would surely be more profitable. If someone needs to do their shopping on a Sunday, it's probably because they work the rest of the week and want a lie-in/leisurely brunch on a Sunday morning, they aren't going to want to rush to the supermarket. And even the shops that Sunday trading hours don't apply to shut very early.

 

[Bumblebee117]

haha, you wouldn't like the continent then.

Shops are ALL CLOSED on sundays and christian holidays. garages are open and extremely overpriced! there is a few bakeries that are open from like 8-11/12 on those days.

When I moved to the Uk I was so surprised that tesco is open 24hrs mo-sat and that shops are open on sundays and holidays. It was amazing at first but now, like you said about being in Chicago, I am spoilt and want all shops open 24hrs a day every day!

 

[SpringerS]

I guess from my perspective it's very weird as I'd expect Ireland to have more restrictions on a Sunday than other places but we don't. There a 24 hour supermarket means always open (with the possible exception of Christmas day). Not everywhere is open 24 hours but opening hours are based on demand rather than a blanket religious law. Whereas the UK is generally a very secular country so the insistence of reduced hours on a Sunday is a bit puzzling.

 

[StaceyKor]

How odd...all the 24hr supermarkets near me are open 24/7 apart from Christmas and New year. Most shopping centres etc open at 10am on a sunday and close at 5pm. Cant say i've ever had any problem getting cold/flu medicine late night cos I can just nip to asda or tesco, even through the night.xx

 

[SpringerS]

In England and Wales stores with a square footage over 280m sq can only open for 6 hours on a Sunday. And those 6 hours must be between 10am and 6pm.

 

[bumpbear]

I'm a Londoner in NYC and have been completely spoiled by the 24/7 choice of shops and restaurants to choose from.

Am visiting London for a couple of weeks and it's not just Sunday trading hours that are driving me insane but high street shops closing by 5 or 6pm too! Last night, LO got the sniffles and I just needed some saline solution for her nose. DH drive around but could find nothing open so we had a whole night of LO being unable to sleep.

You def have to be far more organized as a mummy in London. I've been spoiled in NYC.

Gah!

 

[joeybrooks]

Reno was just about to say the same thing. I live in belfast and the odd time ive driven through the city centre on a sunday you just see confused tourists wandering around probably gasping for a cuppa.