FRUIT SHOPS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 25, 30 January 1937, Page 6

FRUIT SHOPS.

; NEW CLOSING HOURS. RETAILER'S COMPLAINT. i UNFAIRNESS ALLEGED. i ! 1 j The new closing order which came into force on January 4 concerning fruit ; shops as tlie result of a requisition by fruit retailers is considered lo be unfair i by Mr. Samuel Coleman, secretary of I the Auckland Retail Fruiterers" 1 Association. ; A few days ago Mr. Coleman, who ; himself conduct* a fruitsliop in Broadway, I Xewmarket. nought an extension of .[hours, but the magistrate. Mr. C. K. Orr ' Walker, dismissed his application. Discussing the requisition, Mi". Coleman said it was not signed by a , majority of the legitimate fruit retailers. He also feels that the requisition was badly worded. He state* that although there were some 400 persous j entitled to sign for it to succeed, the! requisition, when presented, contained just over 100 signatures. Many of these, lie adds, were ineligible, as they comprised commission buyers, hawkers who liad no shops, men outside the district, i barrow stall holders and others who car- ! lied on a multiplicity of trades and could not qualify as fruiterers because tlie main part of their trade was not in that particular line. He further considers that the number of valid signatures would not be in excess of SO. or about 20 per cent of the 50 per cent required. He is therefore pressing the Minister of Labour for a pro|»er scrutiny and inve.stigation so that "justice might l>e done to many fruiterers who were being unfairly penalised at present." It could only be too plainly emphasised that as the law stood at present, any fruiterer could, by stocking a fair amount of confectionery, sell fruit without hindrance at whatever hour of the week he liked. Sundays excepted. The attitude of the European Retail Fruit and \ egetable Traders' Association over the requisition was criticised by Mr. Coleman. His own association, he said, was open to Asiatics. It included most of the big fruiterers. A much more representative body, it had not supported the change. "If the (iovernnient fixes hours it should at least see that thev are being observed." lie added. "I know ot shops that are not observing the new ,closing hours. It is quite apparent that a very different procedure will have to be adopted by the Minister when future requisitions are decided. I would suggest. iu future, that a list of eligilde fruiterers be prepared prior to a requisition -and then some proper svsteni of voting and checking votes be devised." ===== I