SHOPPING WEEK

Waikato Times, Volume 195, Issue 22393, 6 July 1944, Page 4

SHOPPING WEEK

REDUCTION OPPOSED INTERESTS OF THE PUBLIC (By Telegraph.—Press Association) WELLINGTON, Thursday. The Dominion secretary of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union, Mr A. P. O’Shea, in a recent letter to the act-ing-Prime Minister, the Hon. D. G. Sullivan, protested against the proposal to introduce a five-day shopping week. “As you are well aware,” Mr O’Shea stated, “a determined attempt is being made to institute a five-day shopping week in New Zealand. This means that the opportunities of the people generally to do shopping will be still further curtailed and it also means that difficulties of those people who have no refrigerators will be further increased so far as the problem of keeping perishable foods is concerned. You will appreciate how important this is in the summer. “H this move is allowed to come to fruition Saturday morning deliveries in country districts will be cut out and rural people will be unable to shop in country towns. The inconvenience of this, particularly to working people, will be very apparent to you. It would appear that the move has the approval of employers and workers, but it does not appear that any consideration has been given to the interests of the public or to the national interest.

“Your Government is making arrangements for the return of many men from the services and a reduction of working time to five days a week would be indefensible. Staffing Aspect

“If the proporal is proceeded with it would indicate that, generally speaking, retail stores are overstaffed and that there could with advantage be a combing out of their manpower for more essential industry. It would also appear to indicate that the margin of profit in retail distribution is very much too high and this should be reviewed. “In other words, it is obvious that under present conditions there is a keen desire on the part of retail busnesses not to sell stocks too quickly lest they come within compass of the excess profits tax. So far as employees are concerned it should be pointed out that if shopping hours can be curtailed by 10 per cent it indicates that 10 per cent of the workers could be transferred to essential industry. “The Government is also appealing to farmers to work harder to produce more food for Britain. If this move is permitted and the working time of one section of the community cut down it can hardly be expected to inspire confidence on the part of the farmer.” RETAILERS' DISCUSSIONS Mr Arthur Fow, representing the Waikato sub-branch of the Auckland Retailers’ Association, left last night for Auckland to attend a meeting of the association in Auckland today when the question of hours of closing which have been engaging the attention of the association for some time past was to be further discussed. In the meantime Auckland retailers are observing the late Friday night and Saturday morning opening. While a number of the larger retailers of Hamilton at a recent meeting expressed themselves in favour of Saturday morning closing, a survey of the small retailers discloses a pronounced leaning toward the present system of Saturday morning trading. In some instances they have stated their preference for closing on Friday night to closing on Saturday. As was pointed out by a number, their returns over a considerable period clearly demonstrated that they were filling a public demand by opening their doors on Saturday morning and with prospective Saturday closing customers would have a facility denied them of which they had taken full advantage in the past. As one retailer pointed out many country folk arid workers in essential industries did their week-end shopping on Saturday morning, and it was not always convenient for the housewife or husband to visit town on Friday night. The retailer depended to a large extent on the goodwill of the public for the prosperity of his business, and if this were lost or impaired the retailer would be failing in his obvious^duty^