THE SATURDAY HALF-HOLIDAY

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7335, 13 January 1911, Page 1

THE SATURDAY HALF-HOLIDAY

success in Sydney: VERDICT AFTER. THREE AXONTHS’ TRIAL. The universal Saturday half-holiday: was brought into force in October, and although the innovation was at the time regarded with considerable priegiving in. certain quarters, still, after • ten or eleven weeks’ trial, tne great bulk of the business people seem to be eminently satisfied with the' change (says the “Sydney Morning Herald^). A largo number of firms were communicated with on the subject, and in no instance was there a complaint of the diminution of tho volume of business. Nor did any firm signify its anxiety to revert to the old cider of things. The head ot one house which used to keep open ou Saturdays declared: “If it ever came about that we could make a choice of Wednesday or Saturday again, I doubt whether wo would go back to tho old style/’ Several firms said that they had experienced very little difference as to the total weekly takings, though the daily receipts had varied with the new order of things, just as there had been necessitated some reorganisation in the week’s business methods. But now tho community was getting used to the change the business was flowing more and more regularly along the new channels.

Before the change it was often urged that Friday night would never become quite like the old-time Saturday night from a shopping point of view, but the Heads of quite a number of houses pointed out that tho new order had resulted. in Friday night being marked by a much greater rush of business than the old Saturday. The reason for this is that the shopping formerly clone on Saturday afternoon and evening is now necessarily concentrated into Friday night. There is very little extra shopping don© by the housewife on Friday afternoon now, because the breadwinners to a very large extent arc only paid on that afternoon, and there is no opportunity to make a purchase until after tea. The consequent Friday night rush is so great that many firms confess their inability to cope with tho business. The remedy, it is pointed l out, is the adoption of Thursday as a universal pay-day, and most of tho firms interviewed expressed the hope that employers generally would recognise the benefits to both, the public and the tradesmen that would accrue from such a system.