SHOPS TO CLOSE ON SATURDAYS

Southland Times, Issue 25358, 9 May 1944, Page 4

SHOPS TO CLOSE ON SATURDAYS

FIVE-DAY WEEK IN AUCKLAND

(P.A.) AUCKLAND, May S. A five-day week in respect of many retail establishments is expected to come into force in the Auckland metropolitan area on July 1. The late shopping night will therefore be observed on Friday, June 30, and the last day on which the trades concerned will remain open on Saturday morning is June 24. The inauguration of the new order will first require the revoking of the existing regulations made in January 1942 governing the closing hours of shops on late nights. The businesses concerned are grocers, drapers and allied trades, including retail footwear and furnishing stores. Chief opposition to the new order has concerned the grocers, but the restoration of the late shopping night, shopkeepers and their assistants consider, will meet these objections. The position of chemists’ shops is still not determined.On the one hand it has been claimed that it is essential for the convenience and health of the public that dispensing facilities should be available on Saturday morning; on the other hand it is represented by assistants that the additional staffing of late night pharmacies on a roster basis would make the same service available by the attendance of each qualified dispenser in the city on one Saturday of the year.