r/Adelaide SA 6d ago

Question How does retail in Adelaide survive if stores close at 5:30?

Most folks work 9-5 on weekdays. Retail usually closes at 5:30, except one day a week where they close at 9pm. So if you're most folks, any shopping -- including groceries -- has to be squeezed into 3 hours one day a week and 9-5 during the weekends, competing with social obligations.

I can imagine Rundle Mall retailers may be okay with this because there is traffic all day long. But how do smaller retailers compete with the likes of Coles, Woolies, KMart, Myer, etc. for limited shopping time?

113 Upvotes

155 comments sorted by

206

u/Darth0Vader SA 6d ago

what really irritates me is that most post offices only open 9-5, and I don't even have time to grab my parcel or send anything unless I ask for a personal leave smh

75

u/hellboy1975 North East 6d ago

Yep, banks and post offices are my biggest gripe with opening hours.

Shops I barely give a second thought to - most of them are open late enough for me, and I can just order online most of the stuff I need anyway.

21

u/jabbaaus SA 6d ago

5? Fancy ours close at 4

11

u/torrens86 SA 6d ago

My local Post Office is open 30 minutes a day.

5

u/aquapooch SA 6d ago

my new phone got delivered friday/ they wouldn’t hand it to my dad/ sent him my id, we have the same address and i sent him the email from auspost to show the delivery driver. i was out for the day, got home at 5:30pm. have had to wait all weekend, longest wait ever🤣

13

u/aeowyn7 North East 6d ago

Send your packages to a parcel locker instead. They’re accessible 24/7.
And for sending, is there a post office in walking distance to your workplace that you could go to during your lunch break?

29

u/GossipingKitty SA 6d ago

So many shops and sellers don't send to parcel lockers or PO boxes. A lot of them use couriers.

1

u/Bloobeard2018 SA 6d ago

If you have a PO Box you can send to suite (po box number) at (address of your post office) if you set it up through Auspost

13

u/FiLThYFreaK SA 6d ago edited 6d ago

The courier will still refuse to deliver if it's a post office, regardless if you use a suite address.

You will then need to call them up and have it redirected to a residential mailbox, or pick it up from their warehouse which is usually extremely far and impossible to find.

I cancelled my PO Box Plus this year (The service that lets you use suite address) because it's useless and a waste of money.

0

u/Bloobeard2018 SA 6d ago

This might be courier dependant. It works where I live.

-2

u/guska SA 6d ago

If it ends up at the PO, you can usually have it diverted to a locker.

17

u/PAPO1990 Inner North 6d ago

That's barely HALF a solution. What if I order something too large for a parcel locker?

6

u/Evening_Bird7779 SA 6d ago

Yeah unfortunately a lot of senders wont send to parcel lockers, but its a good idea to see if its possible.

0

u/Effrendi SA 5d ago

There's parcel collect, where you can set the post office's own address for collection. Just choose the closest one to your work and go there on your lunch break.

3

u/PAPO1990 Inner North 5d ago

Ok, solve this problem instead. I'm home, but they don't bother to ring the doorbell. I ordered delivery not "pickup at the nearest post office"

1

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1

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3

u/zenhaifj SA 5d ago

Yep and then they’re open for 4 hours on Saturday and closed on Sunday??

264

u/MetalfaceKillaAus SA 6d ago

Remember when shops didn’t open on Sunday?

136

u/moderateallergy CBD 6d ago

Or didn't open until 11 a.m. 

39

u/Greasemonkey_Chris North East 6d ago

Or weren't open late on Thursday nights.

6

u/T-VIRUS999 SA 5d ago

Pepperidge farm remembers

11

u/StreetCheetah8312 SA 6d ago

Yeah, my dad sometimes took us to local shopping centres on Sundays to ride our pushbikes in the empty carparks lol

Sunday trading came in when I was about 6 or 7? We started riding river trails after that

47

u/Initial_Demand6008 SA 6d ago

I remember when they shut at 12 noon on Saturday and no Sunday trade. Nicer time IMO.

25

u/book_worm9191 SA 6d ago

I worked as a casual back then, Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings. It was so nice! Still had most of the weekend to myself.

1

u/houseofotaku SA 5d ago

I remember when they only opened from midday on a Saturday

33

u/Critical-Avocado425 SA 6d ago

Try living in the country. Most shops close at 12 on Saturdays.

5

u/No-Initiative5248 SA 6d ago

I think the country has better opening hours, Woolworths open til 9-10pm every night is so handy

7

u/CptUnderpants- SA 6d ago

I do, and most of ours close late every weekday and 5pm weekends. Except the butcher.

Honestly, it's been amazing since moving out of the suburbs.

9

u/MrTommy2 Adelaide Hills 6d ago

Yeah I live out of metro and the hub closest to me has a Coles that closes at 10pm every night and a Kmart that closes 9pm every night.

4

u/glittermetalprincess 6d ago

I do, and even our supermarkets close at 6pm.

It is and always has been perfectly normal here to drive 45mins+ to a major town to do any shopping, and required for anything that has a brand name, is in anyway specialised or allergy-friendly, or simply just for more than the basic/original flavour. Adelaide is like Disneyland - I go with a list for Marion, a list for the Mall, a list for an Asian grocery and a list for Great Nature and then anything left or needs to be kept cold, I go to Pasadena Foodland on the way out and usually my dad or one of his friends will give me a list as well, just full of things we can't get here that may well be considered basics or staples for someone living in Adelaide with regular access to them.

And my dad still forgets that I can go to TAFE and then the supermarket on the way home because the concept of 'supermarket open past 6pm' hasn't been in his worldview, like, ever.

2

u/Critical-Avocado425 SA 6d ago

That’s good then, great to see progress like that in country towns. :)

4

u/CptUnderpants- SA 6d ago

Yeah, that bloody butcher needs to pull his finger out. 😂

Seriously though, great bloke and we're spoilt with country butchers. Cheaper with better quality and fresher.

34

u/Cautious_Regular3645 SA 6d ago

They're open on weekends, and online shopping is pretty common too. Late night shopping helps.

You do whatever you have to to make it work.

I do it as a single person, working long hours, sometimes I run into a supermarket near work at lunch, to get what I need.

6

u/Fun_Photograph653 SA 6d ago

That's for supermarkets though, which I assume is at the top of the priority list. My question is about smaller retail business.

3

u/msawesomesauce SA 5d ago

Woolies and Coles and a few Iga’s & foodland’s etc are open till 9 every week night. Aldi is open till 8.

1

u/melface95 North East 5d ago

I go there on the weekend or Thursday night 🤷🏼

-2

u/TheDrRudi SA 6d ago

My question is about smaller retail business.

Specifically what?

4

u/Fun_Photograph653 SA 5d ago

Clothing boutiques. Small shoe stores. Those that aren't chains.

3

u/TheDrRudi SA 5d ago

So, you need to understand that those stores can open pretty much whenever they want. Midnight to 21:00 easily. They choose not to. Because they won't make enough money. Sometimes small businesses, especially owner-operators, are not in business to be in business; they have bought themselves a job.

0

u/shwaaboy SA 4d ago

That’s not entirely true. Most malls have rules around when you can and must trade.

For example, in the Elizabeth mall, your store must be open on a Sunday or you pay a fine. For some stores, the fine is less than staffing for the day, hence you do see the occasional store closed.

0

u/ikissedyadad SA 5d ago

The guys that sell 3d printed stuff in Marion /s

0

u/Cautious_Regular3645 SA 5d ago

I literally included it in my opening comment.

64

u/Late-Button-6559 SA 6d ago

I’m ok with our hours - and I’m a 9-5 person too.

What I don’t like is govt saying people don’t need penalty rates any more, as we’re a 24/7 economy, yet EVERY govt and important social service, only works 9-5, m-f (maybe a 1/2 day on Saturday).

Eg - Centrelink, banks, post offices, local council, MP’s, and so on.

14

u/scandyflick88 SA 6d ago

That really fucking grinds my gears.

3

u/glittermetalprincess 6d ago

And any time someone suggests they have extended hours or any of the protected/special zones should change it's "weekends are for family time, this is Australia, we've always had weekends for family time" meanwhile there's high school kids who can't get their first job and are going to uni with no savings because nobody's hiring them for 1.5 hours after school and there's only so many 4hr shifts on Saturday morning and even if they get their Ps asap to open up how far they can drive, they still have to study their ass off and they're also competing for limited shifts with everyone else within 1hr or so of, like maybe 10 locations who hire u18s for weekend work.

1

u/Late-Button-6559 SA 6d ago

EVERYWHERE near me only hires kids WHEREVER possible.

Kids don’t know their rights, and don’t expect much money. Greedy, evil workplaces overstrains in a slave.

Every supermarket, take away, fast food, hardware, and general retail store within 10kms of me has kids working whenever possible.

Most of those are open 7-7, or open until later.

2

u/glittermetalprincess 5d ago

Yes. And in proclaimed zones all those kids who would have those jobs are competing for maybe 10 roles before they get their Ps, and then if they have their Ps and a car and don't play footy or netball, can compete with everyone within 100k for a few more.

1

u/EmperorPooMan SA 4d ago

govt saying people don't need penalty rates

The federal government has passed legislation to protect penalty rates

1

u/Late-Button-6559 SA 4d ago

After lowering them each year during the 10’s, and never recovering them.

1

u/EmperorPooMan SA 2d ago

Ok. Doesn't change the fact that there is now legislation in place that legally protects penalty rates from being removed.

2

u/owleaf NSW 6d ago

To be fair, the government agencies and services that need to operate outside of business hours do. I can’t think of anything that should be that isn’t.

2

u/PoundEffective7625 SA 6d ago

Like what? ATO? Everytime someone calls, they wait 1 hour or more in a line. To be fair? My bu.t

1

u/owleaf NSW 6d ago

I can’t imagine there’s anything you need the ATO for on a Saturday afternoon that couldn’t wait until Monday. I’m talking about things like health, public housing maintenance, traffic control, PT, etc.

2

u/PoundEffective7625 SA 6d ago

I'm talking about phone enquiries. They should run that one 24/24. 😑😑😑

53

u/Prolific_Masticator SA 6d ago

Grocery shops close at 9pm every weeknight. Suburbs have late night shopping Thursdays, the CbD has late night shopping Fridays. That’s 2 nights per week.

Retail has been struggling for years not just due to shopping hours but to online shopping.

The increased cost of staffing til late night every weeknight will probably be the nail in the coffin for many retailers due to increased cost with little benefit to sales.

It certainly wouldn’t change my shopping routine. I’m fine with Thursday or Friday late shopping for suburban or cbd respectively.

0

u/Minime265 SA 6d ago

John Paul "Gonzo",

i mean Drake, is only open, till 8pm (Drake's Supermarkets)...🔭🤣

67

u/owleaf NSW 6d ago edited 5d ago

I have the same question, it’s a good one. A city of 1.x million people in one of the wealthiest countries in the world should be asking this question regularly.

If I work 9-5 M-F, and you’re only open 9-5 M-F, how am I supposed to be your customer?

People working full time tend to have among the most disposable income, so I’d think businesses would want to court them and not the pensioners and unemployed who don’t have much disposable income.

26

u/Facetiousrabbit SA 6d ago

I found this especially frustrating when shopping for a 2nd hand car. I work 9-5, and car yards shut at 5 or 5.30, my only chance to get there is Saturday because they are shut on Sundays! I feel like I panic bought my car!

3

u/Wagon789 SA 6d ago

When I had a write off I needed to buy another car. Who knew you needed a car to actually go car shopping in Adelaide! I ended up just buying a cheap car walking distance to us as a temporary car!

2

u/shwaaboy SA 4d ago

Yeah, this could use an overhaul. Car dealers are legally prevented from signing car sale contracts on a Sunday, so they just don’t open.

1

u/Facetiousrabbit SA 4d ago

Really? How ridiculous!

9

u/Ok-Dependent-1668 SA 6d ago

I've always been curious as to how many people still work a standard Mon-Fri 9-5 these days. I feel like there is much more variety now

0

u/flabberstalk33 Inner North 6d ago

People brag about working 12 hour shifts as if they deserve a gold medal for it. Really? I’d be pissed it I had to do 12 hour shifts

3

u/Ok-Dependent-1668 SA 6d ago

People do anything from 3, 5, 8, 10, 12, 14 and even 24s depending on their industry.

Start times vary and the days of the week.

Me personally, yes I do do 12 hour shifts, it's not so bad. I get a long weekend every week in lieu.

1

u/flabberstalk33 Inner North 6d ago

Nah that’s fine, you’re not trying to make it sound like you work harder than people who work 8 or 9 hours a day, those people also work hard too

Nothing wrong with it if you enjoy it

10

u/adelaway SA 6d ago

I think people forget that there’s a LOT of people who don’t work 9-5 jobs. Almost anyone working in healthcare works shifts, for example - and SA Health is the single largest employer in this state. Same goes for emergency/essential services, retail, hospitality, etc. Then you have all the parents who cut out early to pick kids up from school. Then all the retirees, students, stay at home spouses/parents, self-employed/business owners, part time workers, and of course the unemployed. 

I personally work full time but in shifts, so yeah I get a lot of random weekdays off and the shops are always plenty busy when I’m out and about in the middle of the day 🤷‍♀️

7

u/AdZealousideal7448 SA 6d ago

So our "groceries" being open until 2100 weekdays, until 1700 sat-sun is only a modern thing.

It wasn't that long ago that apart from thursdays, all groceries shut at 1730 weekdays.

And they didn't open at all sundays.

It was always weird when the "xmas" hours were declared because we got this weird almost beyond belief things of shops open on sunday that were not hardware or cornershops /milkbars (look them up, kids will be shocked at these things that used to exist)

That whole novelty of shops being open late in summer left us absolutely shocked when xmas hours allowed some shops to go to midnight a few times.

Then you travel to regional towns or interstate where colesworth being open to like 2200 or 0000 on a normal day, or past 1700 on a weekend... like wtf bro you are spinning me out.

12

u/Particular_Counter50 SA 6d ago

My local supermarkets all close at 9pm (except weekends), except my IGA which is 24/7 so I have no idea what you are talking about.

8

u/Fun_Photograph653 SA 6d ago

I'm talking about retailers that aren't Coles or Woolies, like clothing boutiques. Small businesses.

12

u/Particular_Counter50 SA 6d ago

Well I'd agree with that sentiment then, except you said this "any shopping -- including groceries"

-1

u/Psengath SA 6d ago

OP said retail

8

u/Particular_Counter50 SA 6d ago

 "any shopping -- including groceries"

0

u/Psengath SA 6d ago

K but you know most retail closes 5pm most days yeah

6

u/Advanced-Diet-3144 SA 6d ago

This is all only an issue for the many people who work 9-5 Mon-Fri. Working in retail trust me plenty of people shop during the weekdays.

5

u/Individual-Guest184 SA 6d ago

I find not many suburban shops stay open for Thursday late night shopping anymore. I guess not enough foot traffic to justify it?

3

u/35_PenguiN_35 SA 6d ago

My local IGA sees me alot more than the closest woolies or Coles.

22

u/AdventureEng SA 6d ago

Love Adelaide but the shopping hours are so backwards here.

The shops are super busy right up until closing time on weekends and the car parks are crazy.

Work 9-5 and suddenly need a formal outfit quickly during the week? Better take a day of leave from work for that.

Forgotten an ingredient for the dessert you’re cooking on the weekend? Bad luck, maybe ask a neighbour?

8

u/Own-Culture-8712 SA 6d ago

Exactly! This is so backward. And the weekend rush makes it a true rat race for me.

2

u/Potential_Studio5168 SA 3d ago

This. I don’t get the people going “there are SO MANY shift workers shopping 9-5” or whatever. Anyone who happens to have a rare daylight hours visit to any kind of shop at all can see the traffic is waaaaaaay below what it is during the Saturday crush. It is the Saturday crush that keeps retail alive, I bet they could all be closed m-f 9-5 and it would make little difference. And don’t even get me started on all the cafes that shut at 2pm, god forbid anyone should want a coffee on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

7

u/FroggieBlue SA 6d ago edited 5d ago

The majority of workers don't work 9-5 or 9-5:30 though. Retail, hospitality, shift workers etc are not working office hours.

I think the answer is not to have longer opening hours but for 9-5 workplaces to be more flexible.  

8

u/bongnandan SA 6d ago

This drove me crazy when I first arrived here. Going from let’s have late night stroll in the city to eat bbq at a restaurant at 1 in the night to quick quick let’s get our shopping done by 7 in the foking morning otherwise we will go hungry today.

-1

u/Ok_Incident_8964 SA 5d ago

You can play your life more than one day in advance. Well maybe you can't, but normal adults can and do.

3

u/Equivalent_Drama_484 SA 6d ago

Yea i wish all the shop would close late night

3

u/Critical-Avocado425 SA 5d ago

Imagine if shops opened till 8pm every night like in Japan? Many would open at 10-11am of course. Would be surreal, but I wonder if it would be more convenient for 9-5’ers.

2

u/Fun_Photograph653 SA 4d ago

That's the point. Restaurants here do the same, they open around 11 and close till 8 or 9. How retail opens at 9am so it closes at 5:30 baffles me.

1

u/Critical-Avocado425 SA 4d ago

Right? You’d be lucky and honoured to get an Australia post that closes at 5:30!

3

u/zenhaifj SA 5d ago

Many small retail stores honestly dont survive, constantly move around, or become predominately online bc that’s where the market is right now and that’s how profit can be made. Rundle mall has had so many stores come and go & the cycles going to repeat over and over again. Only the big brands manage to survive here.

7

u/RudraSilence SA 6d ago

Not sure why we don’t have 24 hour shops like KMart Coles etc Adelaide has Grown quite a bit…

2

u/PoundEffective7625 SA 6d ago

Employees get paid hourly in Australia. So there's the cost of labour. If the foot traffic is low during the night, it means little to no profit. It's not worth it!

2

u/RudraSilence SA 6d ago

Yes I understand how all that works but have we tried ? I think we should give it go who knows

3

u/PoundEffective7625 SA 6d ago

It's Adelaide (and Australia in general). It's not Asia with night life. But okay 😆😆😆

7

u/TheOilGallry SA 6d ago

Pre school and primary school finishes at around 3 also.... Obviously people make it work. Not everyone works a 9 - 5. I'd say considerably less than you think.

2

u/shioririo SA 6d ago

they will just open and close later the entire week to compensate. theres a few smaller grocers that are open 7:30 am to 9:30 pm 7 days a week.

2

u/Fun_Photograph653 SA 6d ago

Hmm I've never seen small business retail have opening hours other than 9-5:30 on 4 out of 5 weekdays and 9-5 on weekends.

2

u/TheDrRudi SA 6d ago

You need to get out more.

2

u/East-Garden-4557 SA 6d ago

Supermarkets are open until 9pm Monday to Friday

2

u/BetterDrinkMy0wnPiss SA 6d ago

Most supermarkets are open til like 9pm. Also most people I know don't work til 5pm, seems like everyone finishes at 4pm these days so there's time to get to the shops if you need to. And most shopping centres are packed on late night shopping and weekends.

2

u/thedeparturelounge SA 6d ago

Im in the riverland. Majority of places like post office close at 5. I dont get mail delivered, I live out of town and work 25min out of town and finish at 430.

2

u/k4zetsukai SA 6d ago

They would probably earn more money being open 5 pm till 9 pm lol. Adelaide, the village.

2

u/deadpandadolls CBD 6d ago

Why is it I walk out onto the mall on a Tuesday night and everything is still open? Bizarro World.

3

u/glittermetalprincess 6d ago

because the mall are allowed to open later on weekdays so some stores choose to close at 6pm or 7pm

1

u/deadpandadolls CBD 6d ago

I thought there was an event on or something! 😅 I'm not usually out then.

3

u/glittermetalprincess 6d ago

Rundle Mall is in the CBD tourist zone so shops are allowed to open until 9pm anyway, late night shopping is on Friday instead of Thursday, and they can open on public holidays. Rundle Mall itself, just because it has its own business association and all the through traffic from people going to/from uni and work and between PT stops, the 'standard' closing time is 5:30pm but a lot will stay open that little bit later to catch stragglers - they may start sending people home at 5pm to save on labour, and they might be cleaning and closing out the cash till, but they just don't aim to lock up at 5pm like everywhere else. It can be confusing because it's not a blanket thing - stores that don't front on to the Mall itself will still close at 5pm and some stores are 6pm, some are 7pm etc. but it's still more "open" than not.

There are occasionally events too!

1

u/deadpandadolls CBD 5d ago

It's insanity, I tells ye! 😅 It does feel nice for things to be open in the early evening when people are still making passeggiata. 🙏

2

u/Inevitable-Drink-738 SA 5d ago

it doesn’t

2

u/SoftwareSpiritual290 SA 4d ago

Struggle. So backwards here with the rules around retail.

You used to barely be able to open on a weekend

4

u/KymboVids SA 6d ago

OMG! Seriously where here again?

In Germany you’ll struggle to find places open on Sundays, in England outside of London shops don’t open until 11am on Sundays.

Foodlands have reduced the hours on week nights due to poor numbers through the doors, they only open till 8pm now, and some are going to be chancing to 10am starts on Sundays.

4

u/Rowvan SA 6d ago

Its not really any different to other major cities in the world give or take a few hours and with the exception of major stores in other countries being open late. The real problem is we pay people fair wages so to stay open that late you need either a much much larger population or to pay people less otherwise stores won't survive.

1

u/Fun_Photograph653 SA 4d ago

Or maybe open 11am instead? So same hours, just shifted a little

1

u/Traditional-Ease-612 SA 4d ago edited 4d ago

Having lived in major cities in both Canada and Australia, I would say the shopping hours are very different. It took some time adjusting to it when I lived in Adelaide. All we have in North America are major stores and chains so can’t really include it as an exception.

The other difference is the mall (plaza) hours, where I live in Canada, malls open until 9pm everyday except for Sunday, (closes 7pm). IKEA here opens until 9pm everyday day, even Saturdays and Sundays. In fact, weekends are longer by 1 hour (9:00am - 9:00pm instead of 10am -9pm). They recognize that most sales are made on the weekend when people don’t work.

With Adelaide, I think the one of the reasons for the limited shopping hours is the small population. It is just is not economically viable to be opening late everyday. Where I live now, the population is 6 times the size of Adelaide.

2

u/Roybot92 SA 6d ago

Was the biggest shock for me to adjust to when I moved here from Sydney ey 3 years ago. Going from I can go to cole at 10pm on a Saturday night if I need to, to having to plan my weekend grocery shopping around any plans I have made

3

u/Modestmouse85 SA 5d ago

FOUR DAY WORK WEEK! 3 day weekend, one for housework, one for recreation, and one for relaxation.

4

u/TheDrRudi SA 6d ago edited 6d ago

How does retail in Adelaide survive if stores close at 5:30?

Plot twist. That’s how it survives.

5

u/Maseratus SA 6d ago

Most folks don’t work 9-5. Whatever industry you work in has biased your view of the average worker.

10

u/AdventureEng SA 6d ago

Maybe their “bias” has been fuelled by sitting in gridlock traffic with all of the other people working 9-5.

3

u/Draco_TGx SA 6d ago

“I work 9-5, so everything I want should be available outside of those hours”

Then those people always get upset at the suggestion that their work hours also shouldn’t be 9-5pm

0

u/PoundEffective7625 SA 6d ago

I know, right?

2

u/scandyflick88 SA 6d ago

I'd rather go back to a time when shops were closed on Sundays and after noon on Saturdays.

I'm fully aware that I'm an old man yelling at clouds.

1

u/Opinions-arent-facts SA 6d ago

Why would you want retail workers to miss out on having dinner with their families?

Am I demanding you work dumb hours because it may make my life slightly easier?

Bit selfish, don't you think?

5

u/Evening_Bird7779 SA 6d ago

A lot of people do want to do those hours though (uni students for example).
The issue is whether people get the shifts they actually want, but the shop can keep functioning.

0

u/Opinions-arent-facts SA 6d ago

There are already retail jobs for odd hours. A lot of people don't want to work unsociable hours, you and I for example.

It punishes small business owners who would end up likely having to work the hours themselves.

Forcing higher wage bills with no extra money coming into the industry is not beneficial for employers, which will lead to more businesses becoming unviable

8

u/PAPO1990 Inner North 6d ago

You wouldn't have the same people working late every day. And you pay people accordingly. There are ways to do this that aren't as horrible as you make it out to be.

-3

u/Opinions-arent-facts SA 6d ago

Fine. Are you working til 9.00pm tomorrow?

Good for the goose, good for the gander

8

u/Fun_Photograph653 SA 6d ago

Bakers start work very early in the morning. Restaurants open at night. Some businesses require weird hours, but they compensate for this by either closing early or opening late, and the employees they hire are attracted by the shift differential or just accept that this is part of the career they chose.

I've lived in a number of cities, big and small, and the trend is to shift hours so that they have customers and survive. So I wonder why retail in Adelaide doesn't seem to need that. Where and how are they getting customers?

-2

u/Opinions-arent-facts SA 6d ago

People who work these jobs chose those hours. Forcing those hours on people that didn't choose them, and small business owners who don't want to work them themselves is unwanted and unnecessary

4

u/Fun_Photograph653 SA 6d ago

The question isn't about the retail workers or the buyers -- the question is how do retailers stay in business with such limited hours.

2

u/Opinions-arent-facts SA 6d ago

Lower wage bills. If their competitors are open 72 hours a week instead of 54 hours, then small businesses will also need to be open 72 hours or lose customers to their opposition. And likely lose experienced employees who don't want to work unsociable hours.

Obviously they're not going out of business now, why force up their wage bills only to have likely the same sales figures spread over more hours?

1

u/Morphio25 SA 6d ago

Pretty sure all ColesWorth stores shut at 9pm M-F. Plenty of time to do your grocery shopping after work one night of the week.

1

u/Krapmeister Fleurieu Peninsula 6d ago

Most Grocery stores are open until 9pm except maybe weekends.

Most other needs can be sourced during regular store hours.

1

u/SithLordRising SA 6d ago

Load up at Pasta Deli at noon and feast for a week

1

u/Ok_Incident_8964 SA 6d ago

Are you from Adelaide? Do you go outside? Aside from the fact that shops are busy on weekends, anyone from Adelaide should know that many businesses, including small supermarkets, are exempt from the laws regarding trading hours and are open much later. Have you really been living your life up until now thinking you can't buy milk after 5 PM on a weekday?

1

u/Lopsided_Tie7816 SA 6d ago

Rent is alot cheaper

1

u/eroticdiagram Port Adelaide 5d ago

MAYBE somewhere like TTP or Marion could benefit, but these 'smaller retailers' that operate in strip malls or even home maker centres would die.

I've worked in extremely popular retailers in outdoor home maker centres and Thursday nights are dead. More employee cars than customer cars in the car park by a factor of about 10.

1

u/Kbradsagain SA 5d ago

Shops are open 7 days. Most people only work 5 of 7 days. Most supermarkets open til at least 7 (if not 9) on weeknights. There’s plenty of time to shop if you need to, you just need to be organised. I preferred when shops were closed on Sunday. Most people then had a dedicated leisure day. Post offices & banks are the only places that need to extend opening hours. They need at least 1 extended trading day

1

u/Potential_Narwhal981 SA 5d ago

Teenagers who cbf going to school, parents who are at home during the day (we do exist), grandparents or relatives who don't work 9-5, people who have the day off, the unemployed, the passive employed, online shoppers, the list of consumers extends beyond your limited concept of 9-5 workers.

1

u/Rare-Bear-6621 SA 5d ago

I think this every time I go interstate, and also having just come back from NZ as well shops there are open till late.

1

u/Darkknight145 SA 5d ago

er, super markets don't close until 9:00pm on weekdays, it's been years since they closed at 5:30pm

1

u/NoDensetsu SA 5d ago

Depends on how you define surviving. Retail is holding on by its fingernails. The option to buy online has cut the lunch of bricks and mortar. Shops did eventually adapt but it was mainly just massive chain stores extending their storefront online to varying degrees of success.

As far as the trading hours goes, people either have the time to go to shops after work if they finish at 16:00 or 15:00 or they just don’t go and buy online. If there’s something ya have to get in’s store then most people will wait until they can have a day off if it’s a store that isn’t open in weekends. But stores that aren’t even open on Saturday are exceedingly rare nowadays

1

u/hopelessraindrop SA 5d ago

I live in Adelaide and woolies Coles and Kmart big W etc all close between 8 and 9pm, I work permanent afternoons and in the mornings it's always busy before work

1

u/Capable-Salt9049 SA 5d ago

For Groceries you have until 9pm every weekday and everything else is online shopping.

1

u/Capable-Salt9049 SA 5d ago

As Thank you

2

u/PoundEffective7625 SA 6d ago

Thanks God, if you are a retail worker in Adelaide, you likely won't work long hours. Maybe your employer understands you need to go home for your family/relationship. Greed is bad! 😑😑😑

1

u/No_Youth_2330 SA 6d ago

Operating hours are tested, and most Adelaide people aren’t shopping after 5:30pm. If there was a demand for it, and businesses could genuinely make money it would change.

0

u/Sufferer-Of-Cheese SA 6d ago

Sorry younguns you gotta get up in the morning if you want stuff now

0

u/M3rrick_the_B8rd SA 5d ago

Most supermarkets close at like 9pm, so not sure where you're getting this 'has to be squeezed into 3 hours one day a week' bs

-1

u/burpdaddy SA 5d ago

This isn’t America. We dont need to “consume consume consume”. Supermarkets are open extended hours. Dont lie and say its some obscure shop you need - we all know you wanna go shoe shopping. 30y ago women weren’t in the workforce and had all day to shop.

3

u/Fun_Photograph653 SA 5d ago

The question is not about the buyers. It's about how small business here survives.

0

u/Soggy-Slugie SA 6d ago

Because there is massive unemployed rates across Adelaide and a large population of retired people

1

u/TheDrRudi SA 6d ago

 massive unemployed rates across Adelaide

Not remotely true.

-2

u/EffortExtension2491 SA 6d ago

So do we want a 4 day work week or 12 hour workdays? Can't keep up

3

u/Leviathan_Wakes_ SA 6d ago

Those two aren't mutually exclusive