Christmas crush

[Val_2]

Went to visit our daughter in St.Brieuc yesterday and whilst filling her car up with petrol for her at Carrefour we wondered if by chance, the local Foir Fouille shop might be open. Oh boy it was open and half of the inhabitants of St.Brieuc were trying to park in their tiny carpark. Being of the more intelligent genre we opted to park some distance away in front of the other closed shops and walk,something the french have yet to discover. Anyway it was manic,things falling of shelves and getting broken,kids running amok and huge queues at the tills. Everytime I turned round someone else was moaning why weren't the other shops open for a few hours as they would have made more income than probably during the previous whole week's opening hours. I would hate to see 24/7 shopping here in France and definately not on Sundays at all,but you would think just for a couple of sundays before xmas to help the crowds and make some money,shop owners would get their act together. I always remember Géant opening two sunday mornings only just before xmas so you could buy trees outside but that seemed to die a death on the introduction of the 35hour week.

[Will]

Oh dear Val - could be the start of the slippery slope. Several shops here are advertising Sunday openings leading up to Christmas.

Michigan in St-Hilaire-du-Harcouët on Saturday was just as you describe, with French people queueing twice round the shop for the single till, all buying really tacky Christmas decorations.

Didn't I read somewhere on this forum about how great it was that the French Christmas is just a religious festival lasting a day or two rather than British-style, starting weeks before, going on until New Year, and bringing out the worst gluttony and materialism? Must be different in the NW.

[Miki]

Val,

We found the same thing here as well on Saturday, as I suspect the rest of France surely did but the three big hypers were open here on Sunday as well and will be open again for the following two Sundays.

Wife reported that this Sunday was just like a Saturday aftrernoon and very brisk indeed but the shops on the perimeter, were for the most part, closed.

 

 

 

[Mistral]

Most shops around here were open on Sunday morning. We went to Aix and the whole town was open even in the afternoon.

No way was I doing a christmas shop with all three kids so I nipped off this lunchtime to do it. All the shops I wanted were closed.

[Val_2]

There dosn't seem to be a lot of spare cash about this year for luxuries from what I have seen people buying recently. We have a crisis going on here in the agricultural sector which will have harmed many incomes,plus higher local taxes and health insurances. My sister said the same about her local shopping trip into Aylesbury last week,that there were plenty of folk about but not buying anything much because basically,she thought they just can't afford to with so much already outstanding in mortgages and credit cards. Local people I have been talking to here during the past week have all said the same,they just want to finish work on the 24th and put their feet up and the majority are not even having a big family feast this year. Perhaps as Will says,commercialism is killing the old-style festive spirit here and people just see it as another money-gobbling scheme invented by the big stores.

[Russethouse]

In the Uk there is a lot of publicity about people not buying so much this year. Last week M & S had a 20% off selected items day (there were lots of items included) and you could walk on their heads in there! Can't remember Marks ever doing that before.

In todays paper this is also a piece about internet shopping, many people now shop this way, its mostly not only fairly hassle free but also cheaper. ( after my experience in Boots today when the lady behind the till simply walked away leaving a queue of 5 people fuming, I am hardly surprised !)

[Iceni]

As a used-to-be accountant and sometime shopper I have never understood the "logic" that claims that I will spend more money if the shops are open longer - I need what I need and will buy when I can. Longer opening times (particularly Sundays) put up the costs and therefore the selling price but in England this seems to be ignored.

John

p.s. thought for the day - buy LESS this Solstice and bring the Chinese economy down.

 

[SaligoBay]

True, but prices are going up in France anyway, even without 24-hour shopping or all-day Sunday shopping.

I don't think it's a case of spending more with longer hours, it's just the supermarkets seeing a gap in the market and going for it, isn't it? 

A few people here still say they think Sunday opening is wrong, but there's clearly a huge demand.   School day finishes at 5, working day finishes goodness-knows-when, about 7?   That's why shopping in France on a Saturday is a complete nightmare, comparable to anything I've seen in England!

As for when it gets near Christmas - I prefer not to even think about going into Montpellier.   Lots of consumerism and not a Salvation Army band in sight to give festive cheer! 

[Mpprh]

[quote]As a used-to-be accountant and sometime shopper I have never understood the "logic" that claims that I will spend more money if the shops are open longer - I need what I need and will buy when I can. ...[/quote]

Hi

The financial analysis goes like this :

We have people working on Sunday and overnight restocking shelves, etc. We've already paid the electricity, the security man, etc.

So it costs virtually nothing to open one till in off peak hours. No one at the checkout ? The cashier can help restocking the shelves.

Any additional business is profitable.

And if our competitors are closed ?

Peter

[Alexis]

The man at la Galerie Lafayette said that they did very nicely indeed thank you if they opened on a Sunday.

It is like SB says, with the strange working hours here, it is often the only chance the family get to shop together.

It is only four Sundays a year.  Not the end of civilised life as we know it.  I'm all for it.  Shame everything except garden centres are closed around me.  What are we supposed to do on rainy Sunday afternoons?  I know what I do.  Good job my fertile years are over

[Russethouse]

Going to the supermarket has become a family outing at weekends

I believe Sunday is now the second busiest trading day of the week for people like Tescos, Sainsburys, Asda etc.

[Battypuss]

Here the major supermarkets etc are open each sunday until Christmas. Special offers abound. Great stuff, if you can get to them; the buses don't run on sundays!

I think nobody thought this one through, we are certainly not the only people without a car in this town. A bit of co-operation with the local (giggling noises) bus services could work in everyone's favour.

[SaligoBay]

It's the same here, Gay, onnest it is, family trip to Carrefour/Auchan/SuperU/Leclerc on Saturday.  One advantage of not working, I can spend my money on a weekday instead!

Alexis - on rainy Sunday afternoons, French families go en masse to the cinema.   I don't understand why you choose rainy days to do your gardening.....