Sundays are still Special in the world of hi-fi

Andrew Everard 19 July 2009 17:17


If you've watched or listened to the news today, you may be aware of the modest hoo-hah that's been going on in the Scottish Highlands, where ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne has just run its first Sunday service from Stornoway, on the island of Lewis, to Ullapool on the mainland.

Campaigners have been singing psalms on the quayside, and women have been seen crying as they called for respect for the fourth Commandment and a return to the previous status quo in that part of the world, where shops and other services remain closed on Sundays.

The Keep Sunday Special people are less than entirely chuffed by the new ferry service, while CalMac says not to run the services could put it in danger of a claim of discrimination under the 2006 Equality Act.

I was listening to the news of this squabble while driving into our local county town to pick up my wife, who was having her hair done this morning.

Took a while, as the streets were thronged with traffic hunting for a parking space, and the pavements full of shoppers laden down with carrier bags. Clearly here, at least, people were eager to spend.

There are three hi-fi shops in the place: one long-established independent, one part of a franchise chain, and the third a branch of Richer Sounds.

Guess which two remained closed and shuttered on one of the week's prime shopping days?

And which one was open and seemed to have a steady flow of shoppers in and out while I sat in the car waiting for madame's 'do to be finished?

Next time I hear a hi-fi retailer complaining that 'footfall is down', and what few customers there are are being hoovered up by the discount stores and the internet, I might just find myself tempted to suggest that actually being open when feet are around to fall might be a smart idea.

Probably a bit more useful than sticking to the old idea of opening weekdays only, maybe even with half-day closing one day a week, and expecting customers to take time off work to have a browse or a demonstration. All a bit 1950s, isn't it?

Unless, of course, the shop staff were all in church, or had driven up to the Highlands to protest about the evils of Sunday ferries – in which case I'd defend to the hilt their right to their religious beliefs, and take it all back...

Comments

Clare Newsome July 19, 2009 17:41

Something for me to mention at the BADA (British Audio-Visual Dealers Association) AGM tomorrow!

Tom Moreno July 20, 2009 03:00

I think a very valid point has been raised here.  I can see smaller dealers who have a small staff might be worried about an extra day's wages, but why not close on Monday in lieu?  It's quite common in the restaurant business, and how much HIFI gets sold on your average Monday?

Byte July 20, 2009 18:23

I must agree 100% Andrew.

Limiting opening hours Mon-Sat 10.00 to 17.30 may have been perfectly acceptable before the advent of internet shopping & Sunday trading but any retailer that continues to follow this practice is (in my opinion) literally sending potential customers to their competitors.

peterkin101 July 29, 2009 12:49

I'm employed in the HiFi trade and would simply leave if I was forced to work on Sundays. IMHO it is a fallacious belief that opening on Sunday would generate extra trade. It has been tried by my employers and all it did was effectivly create 7 days overheads for 6 days business.

Customers have six days to shop between the hours of 09:30-18:00 hours which is more than enough.

If people advocate Sunday opening, then no doubt they won't mind working on a Sunday for their employer at Retail wages either!

chebby July 29, 2009 17:28

What is so special about hifi dealers that they can't work on a Sunday? (Or on a Monday or until 10:00am).

I can buy a £50,000 BMW on a Sunday, I can buy a £1500 Swiss watch or two grand's worth of specialist mountaineering gear. So why the 1950s attitude to opening hours from hifi retail?

Andrew Everard July 31, 2009 08:24

I rest my case, peterkin101...

peterkin101 August 6, 2009 22:25

Like it or lump it but Sunday opening on a regular basis just isn't going to happen for the reasons I've stated.

Other businesses can do what they like but had Sunday working ever became compulsory then I'd have left...

Again, if those bleating about no Sunday opening are prepared to work for their employer  on a Sunday at the Minimum wage, then they've got a justifiable gripe.

Otherwise I will sympathise with them as much as I do Mobile Phone Mast protesters who own and use Mobile Phones!

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About Andrew Everard

Andrew Everard, Audio Editor of Gramophone since November 1999 and What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision's Consulting Editor, read English at Queens' College, Cambridge a very long time ago! He started his journalistic career in 1982 on Haymarket's photographic magazines, and subsequently worked on What Hi-Fi?, High Fidelity, Audiophile and Home Cinema magazines, as well as contributing a monthly column to Japanese title HiVi.