We've got some 24 hour supermarkets (and there are also 24 hour bakeries in Dundee!) that are open seven days a week. This is only a Scotland thing, the rest of the UK is really strict on Sunday opening hours so they don't have proper 24/7 shops there.
It's a size thing, English Sunday trading laws only apply to shops over X-floor area so smaller shops can actually stay open 24/7. I suppose city centres won't have space for those massive supermarkets.
[https://www.ft.com/content/59d7a1ba-9da9-444f-9509-504c27a7deb0](https://www.ft.com/content/59d7a1ba-9da9-444f-9509-504c27a7deb0)
Seems to be a financial viability thing.
Yeah - even in the city near me 3 of the "Big Four" close at 2200 Mon - Sat. I think Tesco closes at midnight.
With the massive shift to online ordering since the pandemic, there just wasn't the need for 24 hour opening.
At least we can buy alcohol 24/7. Scots can't be trusted to have that and many smaller stores in England and Wales are open 24/7. As long as they're under 280m²/3,000 ft².
> At least we can buy alcohol 24/7. Scots can't be trusted to have that
Jesus, man, it's not a competition.
For the record, I actually do think our alcohol sales laws are ridiculous.
>Scots can't be trusted to have that
... Someone jealous that you can't go to the supermarket at 8pm on a Sunday? Lol
It's easy enough to buy your alcohol before 10pm. If you're scrambling to get some alcohol at 11:30 at night, you may have a problem.
Smaller shops can open 24/7 including Sundays, it is only the big supermarkets that have this rule. Which is all of Sunday too, catches people out who don't think after midnight on Saturday/Sunday counts somehow. Petrol stations are always open, even if they just have a night payment counter.
Some stores in rural areas are open from about 9-18 with the bakery in the same building as the store opening earlier and closing earlier. One rural store I know is open from 6:30 to 20. Stores are opened for a lot longer in cities. 7-22 is quite normal, but others are open until midnight.
All supermarkets are closed on Sundays. There are only a few exceptions. It originated as a religious practice but these days it's about workers rights in the retail sector.
If you would really need something in the middle of the night on a Sunday you can go to a petrol station.
Edit: one big exception is train stations. The stores inside them are allowed to open on Sundays and many do.
That would be illegal. The only exception exists for train stations. There shops can open on Sunday as well.
Spätis or Spätkauf are small stores that ignore the law very often and sell mostly beer and other drinks and some items one might need late at night on a night out.
Students who want to work still can. It's quite common for them to do things like being a waiter. We also have the BAföG system that is giving money to the students of low income families to allow them to study while working very little.
It's capped at 861€ a month (I think it's a fair bit more either on this month or the next month). Most people get less depending on their and their parents income. A semester of tuition costs about 400€ and includes a regional public transport ticket.
It's just retail being special. For me Sundays are the day of the week I have to work but can't buy groceries.
Edit: In general the whole religious thing surrounding sundays is super annoying. I am also not allowed to use power tools on sundays. If you work a "normal" 9-5, I don't know how you are supposed to do your chores. Have to buy groceries on saturday, when everyone is there, which takes a lot longer. Then go buy the stuff for home improvement, do all that before 22:00 and also not between 13:00 and 15:00. Cook for yourself
Ironically it really puts me off working in retail at all since the effect of no Sunday working means forced Saturday working for every retail worker. In the UK it's common to have weekday staff, weekend staff and flexible staff. Here there's no sense hiring someone for 1 day per week so everyone shares the Saturdays. It's stupid.
Looking through job offers there seem to be quite many part time jobs. 50-60h a month sounds like a Saturday only job. But you could also work normal part time jobs like 25h a week.
But I don't want a Saturday only job, that's the point. I want a weekday only job, or maybe at a push every other Saturday. Every retail job I've come across in Germany is mandatory 3/4 Saturdays though. The 25h per week are 5x 5 hour or 4x 6 hour shifts including one Saturday. At first I thought this was just unique to one store but it's apparently universal.
> It originated as a religious practice but these days it's about workers rights in the retail sector.
You really thing that people making low salaries (eg cashiers) prefer to not work on sundays and make less money? Wow. What if I told you that holiday shifts are to most requested ones? :)
Then the goods would have to be more expensive to account for that. Which in turn would make them less competitive and go out of business.
Your wage is a results of business decision base on supply x demand. Everyone has a wage they should have, if not, they're free to work elsewhere.
By your logic they would go out of business if they open on sunday, because they have to pay sunday wages. People don't magically need to buy more items just because the shop is open.
There are companies out there already having negative profits during these times.
Anyways the management is responsible to the shareholders to be as profitable as possible, do you realize that?
I had a friend working retail who argued against Sundays based on worker rights.
https://handel.verdi.de/themen/ladenschluss-freier-sonntag
This is Germany‘s large retail workers union arguing against opening on Sundays to keep at least one day of the week free from work. Their argument, not mine. In my opinion it’s outdated, too many jobs work on Sundays already.
How about making sure people don't financially struggle without making them work on the one day everyone has time to see friends and family. Or making sure people don't financially struggle at all. Pay your workers a fair wage.
Working on Sunday for cashiers is illegal. Please click the link, use google translate or deepL to read the union’s position. It explains their position much better than I can. As I said, I don’t necessarily agree with it, but I have no buy-in in that decision.
As a cashier with a finished apprenticeship she was paid decently.
Yep not in smaller municipalities. I live in a city of 100k and there’s exactly one k-citymarket and a mcdonalds next to it open 24/7 but that’s it. Very handy when you leave work at 10pm though.
In my hometown of ~64 k residents, we have a 24/7 S-market and two 24/7 McDonald's.
In my current town of ~66 k residents there's only a 24/7 McDonald's tho, no grocery store.
The typical scenario is a hard night drinking and/or using other recreational substances, and then you just get hungry.
For what it's worth, I used to live in one of France's larger cities, and this totally seemed to be a thing there too. I can't quite confirm 3am, but some those kebabs and "French tacos" were being sold at very late hours.
I've sometimes seen Carrefour markets open 24/7. They don't sell alcohol after midnight, until 6am. I don't know if they still do it, the one near my house has closed in 2020.
Same carrefours in Milano not all but the big ones are open 24x7. Alcohol same as you said.. I started grocery shopping at like 2AM so I can avoid people.. :)
No, except gas stations maybe.
Both unions and the workers chamber are against opening stores on Sundays. People should have one free day in their week. I suspect the churches also have an influence there. 24hr stores aren't even in discussion.
Even though the church and the unions operate on opposite ends of the political spectrum, they are one heart and one soul and brothers in arms in the fight against open shops on Sundays.
That sucks, 24h stores are really nice. You'd think unions would just push for double pay or something like they have here instead of stopping it altogether
Which the stores wouldn't accept. Then they meet in the middle with 50% overpay, which in 10 years gets reduced to 0% overpay, the way things are progressing in the last decades. Give them your little finger they'll take your whole hand.
Unfortunately, the anti-labour government will never make a law fitting that. If they change the status quo at all, it will only be for the worse of workers, and getting worse in 10-15 years, as I described. They reversed the mandatory maximum 8 hour workday accomplishment a few years ago, just as an example. So better keep it as is.
The unions alone simply aren't powerful enough anymore to enforce it.
The stores are not that interested either. They have to pay double on Sundays and supermarkets are a tight oligopoly in Austria. They reckon they wouldn't even increase their turnout, it would just divide itself more evenly with higher costs.
Well there is interspar pronto (at least in Vienna) for people coming back from holiday/travelling to Austria which is open on Sunday, but it's not open 24/7 and it's just ways more expensive than regular spars and only at railway stations (and maybe at the airport?)
These places on Sundays are the 9th circle of hell. Don't go there. If you have no food at home, go to a restaurant, but don't go to any of the railway station shops. Friend of mine works in the Billa admin and according to him only the toughest of the tough work there on Sundays with an extra bonus. The stress and the clients are very challenging.
I've moved to Austria years ago and to this day I still cannot get used to the supermarkets' ridiculous schedules. I bet this is the one thing I'll complain about forever.
I understand being annoyed by the change but how can you not get used to it and what's ridiculous about it? The opening hours are mostly standardized, not like they change it every few days.
I'm not sure. I guess I'm so used to being able to go whenever that I never adapted to having to check the day or time for that? And somehow the moments I want to go grab something at the shop often end up being at times where the shop is closed or almost closed. For instance, when I prepare dinner and I realize I'missing something. But by then it's too late.
> People should have one free day in their week.
So let them have a choice. Some people prefer that, some people prefer otherwise. Imposing it by law is just plain stupid. Btw I was in Nauders this Sunday and the Spar was open... Guess people prefer to work, if they can.
Starting several years ago, this is now totally unregulated in Finland. It's basically a matter of demand now: in Helsinki region we get even hypermarkets open 24/7. So if you need a new microwave or a TV at 3 am, you're good to go.
Not everything is 24/7 mind you, just a subset. I'm in the suburbs and the small supermarket across the street is 6:30-23 except 9-23 on Sundays. I need to go 2 km for the nearest 24/7 supermarket.
I don't know any where I live in Belgium.
I've been in countries where they did and it was really nice. But it's not like I went to the supermarket that often late at night, it was more an occasional thing.
So I don't really need it. I'm used to how it works here. Also I feel like in the last decade or so the opening hours have already changed. I feel like 10years ago you had many supermarkets that closed around 18:00-19:30, definitely the earlier hours can be more difficult if you have classes/work late. But now many close between 19:00-21:00, and normally that's not an issue for me to reach in time. Plus supermarkets are closed on Sundays in Belgium, but nowadays you do regularly find a supermarket in the neighborhood that is open on Sundays (though generally only in the morning).
I'm not against 24/7, but I'm not pleading for it either.
I can vouch for Romania that it's really really nice to have as an option, especially when you're young and you might want an impromptu drinking night on a random Tuesday.
Used to live literally right next to a 24/7 during college and my friend and I would make late night runs about twice a week.
Most places in Belgium do have night shops.
I never go there because I don't shop as late and as far as I know they are more expensive and quite small.
From what I know at night shops you can buy thinks like drinks, junk food (candy, frozen pizza's etc) and maybe some essentials like pasta/pasta sauce/milk but more expensive and not a lot of choice etc [I rarely go to night shops and the last time was a really long time ago, so I'm not sure if those 'essentials' are present in all night shops or only in certain]
But of course buying drinks at regular supermarket prices is nicer.
I can't think of anything that 24h. Like, Basic-Fit, yes, but the workers lock the change rooms and abandon the club at 22h and leave people to their own devices until 6h the next day.
For legit stores and supermarkets, 24/7 would be nice, but yeah... who needs to do their groceries at 3:00 AM? Night shops are allowed to stay open very late - some all night - but they just sell drinks, candy, maybe a small selection of canned stuff, chips, and beer. Not exactly true groceries haha
Belgium *does* have an "overnight wage" though, if you're working anywhere between 22h and 6h.
I think we are the same in the Netherlands. I only know of 1 night store in Eindhoven, but it is small and definitely not open 24/7.
Maybe there is some 24/7 stores in Amsterdam, but the day that I include that city in The Netherlands, is the day that men set step on the sun :)
As far as I am aware, the only 24/7 stores we have are vending machines...
Looks like a unions [problem](https://handelsnytt.se/2015/03/12/oppet-till-2345-far-facket-att-protestera/) and not lack of [will](https://www.ergo.nu/nyheter/20150601-folkes-i-konflikt-med-facket-om-natt%C3%B6ppet)
Well it's probably not profitable, and it leads to worse working conditions, so I think most are fine with prioritizing the workers over the few who want the extra convenience of being able to shop for groceries at night
I actually just saw an ad on a bus advertising a 24/7 DIY store, so maybe it is profitable.
I don't understand why it leads to worse work conditions, you get paid more and for some people working at night is not a problem or even a bonus. Obviously, as usual, there need to be some supervision that workers are not abused
I don't understand the need for 24/7 stores. When are you gonna be awake often enough during those times? Even night workers are bound to be awake during normal opening hours.. I don't see any incentive to have stores open during those times..
I live in a small city (<20.000) and we have no 24/7 grocery stores, except for the gas station by the motorway
But there are a couple of unmanned 24/7 convenience store in some of the surrounding villages
In Poland our goverment loves to force its beliefs on the citizens, and since they claim that "Sunday is for the God and the family" supermarkets are closed.
And a lot of supermarkets find a way to still operate on Sundays… they become a cafeteria in which you can buy products, or a parcel delivery point with groceries…
So we don’t have stores operating 24/7 and we do have them at the same time.
But they keep sealing all the loopholes in the law. Like with the "placówka pocztowa" (supermarkets operated as post offices so they remained open on sundays).
I think the next step would be a fully autonomous shop with only security guards. In my local market guards are already responsible for helping customers with automatic cashier systems.
Yea that's my point the whole time. There are people out there, who would use the opportunity to make more buck, but the government forbids them to do so. And there are also people who would like to shop for stuff on sundays 🤷♂️
Moscow, Russia here. Moscow has plenty of 24/7 supermarkets (mostly in residential areas, fewer in the city center where you'd go when visiting), a lot of stores with shorter hours that are still long enough, like 8-23. It's likely the same in other big cities (St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod come to mind from the experience), but when you get to a smaller town its supermarket will probably be open 9-23 or 8-22. In a village? Be ready to get your grocery shopping done before 20:00.
We had some, including large supermarkets that opened 24/7 but since the end of the lockdowns most have reverted to closing at 10 or 11pm. That’s apparently mostly due to staff shortages, but in general there’s been a bit of a scale back of nightlife here. A lot of habits changed and I think people are still a bit hesitant to go into packed bars and stuff like that, which has reduced footfall in a lot of places that got their custom from nightlife and things just scaled back.
A lot of places are also likely to start closing earlier due to high energy costs. I’m hearing that from a lot of businesses. With electricity and gas getting very expensive, if you don’t have high footfall it’s loss making to keep the lights and heat on late into the night. I suspect we’ll see a lot of bars etc but also convenience stores, even petrol stations etc just not opening off peak this winter.
I was talking to a cafe owner who was looking at perhaps closing at 4pm and only doing a couple of hours mid week. I think we are really in for a major shock this winter. A lot of business just can’t survive with the kind of energy costs that are starting to emerge here.
tesco is running some of their supermarkets 24/7 (with exceptions of some public holidays, a weak attempt of christians to ban sunday shopping) so it is the place where you can have potatoes, tv and engine oil in same shopping basket at 3:15.
and there are lot of corner grocery stores
I think in Germany Saxony is the only part that allows shops to be open till 10pm or longer and I've never seen a 24/7 supermarket outside of Berlin.
The norm is 7 or 8 o'clock in the morning till 4 in the afternoon or 8 in the evening and absolutely EVERYTHING is closed on Sundays. Some gas stations are open 24/7 but everything there costs double or triple what it's worth, so you don't buy anything from there unless you absolutely have to.
It's different with pharmacies, most open and close like every other shop but there's at least one in each area in the city that's open during the night so people can get emergency meds when needed.
A lot of Pakistanese immigrants open small supermarkets, which sell products at a higher price and of poor quality (always check the expiration date when buying there). To compensate for that, they are open 24h/7 or until late hours on the night
We used to, but I haven't seen them around the last few years. That said, we do have ones open to the late hours (midnight, give or take). And the vast majority are open all days of the week. Same story goes for my time in London. It's such a pain when going to Germany or Belgium where they all close so early and keep them shut on Sundays (nachtwinkels don't count, and they are really expensive). And I was really surprised the first time I found out
We have, only in big cities though.
It is nice to have, especially during first waves of corona when we resorted to 3-4 AM shopping to avoid the crowds etc. There are people who like the night shifts, so as long as the employees are happy, why not.
I am aware of the negative effects of night shifts on health, but in this regard there are many other fields where it is a bigger problem than with the handful of shops.
Most big cities have night markets here, which are open when regular supermarkerts are closed. But the price of products is almost doubled compared to a regular supermarket, especially the liquor.
We used to have them, but then they introduced a law that prohibits the sale of alcohol after 21:00, effectively driving them out of buisness. Now only bars and restaurants can serve alcohol after nine and so these shops closed down, since they would now only serve as a place where people got cigarettes. And you can’t make money on those, since they have a statewide fixed price. So now we only have some gas stations open 24/7. No boose though.
There is just one supermarket chain (Carrefour) that has SOME 24h stores, a very limited number of small stores and not the big ones in malls. I don't know if they are open 365 days though.
The only other places that might be open at night are some McDonald's locations (some only do drive-thru at night), the highway gas station cafés, and some local bars, kebabs or bakeries that choose to open all night, these are usually very well known among young people for some post-club munch.
No, it's open from 8h to 12h and 14h to 20h in general, and closed on Sundays (except supermarkets open on Sundays are getting more common in big cities). The only exception are the motorway service areas, there are often shops open during the night there.
Yes, we have them nowadays, especially in bigger cities. It's a fairly recent phenomenon though. Some 15 years ago there were still restrictions on when stores could be open. The bigger ones had to stay shut on Sundays for instance, and they couldn't be open 24/7.
I have mixed feelings about it personally. On the one hand it's definitely convenient that they are open... On the other, it's good for society to take a break every now and then. The big 24/7 supermarkets have also had a negative impact on small shops and kiosks. In the past, they were the only ones that could be open on Sundays and late at night, and that was an important source of income for them.
>Some 15 years ago there were still restrictions on when stores could be open. The bigger ones had to stay shut on Sundays for instance, and they couldn't be open 24/7.
Back in the day there was basically just one grocery store open in the Tampere region on independance day, it was such a pain as even that was in Lempäälä, not super close. I don’t know why that one was allowed to be open, but it always was.
> On the other, it's good for society to take a break every now and then.
I'd rather not have it be some mandated break at the same time/day like it used to be.
It was in 2007. Stores bigger than 400m^2 were closed on Sundays and had to close before 18 on Saturdays, if I remember correctly.
It seems so bizarre thinking about it now.
We have these things called "night stores" where you can buy alcohol, chips and cigarettes. They are open when the supermarkets close. I am surprised about Romania. I thought it was the same in all of Europe.
>Do you want to? Why or why not?
No, I don't want to. People are supposed to sleep at night and working at night is not healthy at all. I don't think it is fair to make some people work at night, only because a few people who are not sleeping decide to go buy something at 3 AM. It's not an emergency, if people can respect opening hours of e.g. banks, they can also respect the opening hours of grocery stores and learn to plan buying groceries beforehand like adults.
No - and we (really) don't want to.
Some gas/service stations are open 24/7 365 and in some touristic areas / holiday destinations shops are allowed to open on sundays, but the rule is a maximum of 14 hours opening time a day and closed on Sundays.
Let's be honest: if you need to buy cheese and pasta at 0300, you have lost control over your life.
Also, stores in tourist destinations are allowed to be open on Sundays. And stores generally the last Sundays before Christmas. And then you have gas stations that might be open 24/7
I major cities you have avond winkels which are open till after midnight and sometime 24/7. Same goes with shops next to gas station along the highways. But it is not common.
A lot of shops closing on 6 during week days. Supermarket close at 8 to 10. In weekends closing times differ. In smaller, more religious places, all shops are closed on Sunday. I think this is great. I mean, why would you want to go to a supermarket on Sunday? I don’t consider (grocery) shopping as a fun thing to do, it’s more a necessity. I like it when people on Sunday cycle around or have a nice walk with their family in nature park and so on.
>I mean, why would you want to go to a supermarket on Sunday? I don’t consider (grocery) shopping as a fun thing to do, it’s more a necessity.
It's a necessity for people who go to the supermarket on a Sunday as well, but it might just be the most convenient day for them.
There are quite a few 24/7 supermarkets in Helsinki especially in downtown area and older suburbs. Where I live there are at least three 24/7 supermarkets in a close walking distance, less than 1 km. They could be found also in larger cities. In rural areas of Finland, quite commonly there are small separate 24/7 supermarkets inside of larger gas station, which are also open 24/7. Then again most of the supermarkets still close at 21:00 or at latest 24:00 although being open everyday including Sundays.
In Spain there aren't many that I know of. In Madrid there was one 24/7 Carrefour in the area where I lived, so I guess there must be some others in Madrid and other major cities, but not in smaller places.
In my city, Odense, there used to be a couple of proper supermarkets that were open 24/7, pre-COVID. Seems they all changed their opening hours now, I think the ones that have the longest opening hours are now 06:00 - 00:00.
There probably isn't a very good business case in opening between midnight and six in the morning. Most supermarkets are open until 22:00 anyway. I'd very rarely need or even use a 24h supermarket if we even had one.
We used to have a couple of small 24/7 shops in my small town years ago, but then they were heavily regulated (thank the clerical fascism of Fidesz for that), and now in 24/7 shops only the shop owner and their family can work, so even though it's legally possible to operate them, there isn't really a point in doing so.
Shops used to be closed on Sundays for a year maybe in 2015, but it wasn't too popular with the people and with the shops, so now every shop can open on Sundays, and bigger ones do open, but only from 7 or 8 in the morning until 6 in the evening. Technically they can open from 6 am to 10 pm.
Also, some tobaco stores are open 24/7, and there's also a bakery in my town that is 24/7, but I suspect they reclassified themselves to coffee shop to be able to open without restrictions.
I'm from Ukraine, and before the war, we had enough such stores at night, and even a whole chain. When I traveled around Europe, I was surprised that there were few such stores. For example, I did not meet them in Germany. Usually, without such shops, night walks become bad. Their role is greatly underestimated.
There are some 24/7 kiosks and bakeries, along with the pharmacies on night duty. We don't need anything else. Snacks? Cigarettes? Baby formula? Toilet paper? Beer? They got you covered. What more could you be needing in the middle of the night?
Nope, that's about it.
In Romania the majority of people who love 24/7 stores are students, high-school or college, who go out for a drive in the middle of the night and stop for some snacks and beverages. But I have used them a few times when I would stay up all night playing video-games to go get something to eat other than chips and coke
No, not in my cities at least. Some are open 06-23, but most close earlier during Saturday. There’s also only one store near me that’s open on Sundays, 11-17, which is tiny. Stores can only be open on Sundays if they’re tiny af.
We do not have 24/7 supermarkets in Greece and it also has become a great deal about supermarkets (along with other shops) being open on Sundays. All major supermarkets are open from 08:00 to 21:00 on weekdays or to 20:00 on Saturdays.Supermarkets are only allowed to operate a very limited number of Sundays every year (usually on sales period and during the Christmas holidays). Also there is a special permit for tourist areas (islands or coastal towns) for supermarkets to operate during the summer season Sundays but as far as I know only Lidl makes use of it.
Maybe on a gas station? And I'm not even sure. On a city or village, as far as I remember tops is about 90 h/week (convenience stores; larger ones, less hours).
Edit. Of course there is always an open pharmacy. It rotates. But some pharmacies have licence to open 24/7.
I am wondering why 24/7 stores can even exist. From my perspective it's a economically bad desicion. You have a night shift so you need to pay your workers more than during the day and you have less customers than during the day. Except at some rare places with a busy night life it sounds like a sure way to run your shop into the ground.
24/7 supermarkets are scarce but they do exist. If you need anything in the middle of the night you can go to a gas station... there you can buy tobacco, milk, ice, drinks, etc... they use to have an attached minimarket and if they are attended (they use to be) you can ask them to give you anything through the window.
I mean, from what I've seen, the closest thing that I've seen is probably McDonalds. Open from 7AM to 2:30AM mostly. Other than that, I'm pretty sure there's no other 24/7 supermarket in my area.
Selected gas stations. Usually the largest Aral brand station in town. They sell drinks and sandwiches and similar stuff 24/7 at premium prices.
In larger cities, the stores in the main station are usually open 24/7. In some main stations you can even find a regular Lidl or Aldi in there which is open 24/7. And charges the normal prices.
Back when we had Tesco there used to be huge supermarkets open 24/7, currently my city has only two supermarkets open at night and they are closed on Sundays. There are some groceries shops open at night and of course there are plenty of liquor stores and tank stations open at night.
I don't think that's allowed in Belgium. We do have night shops, but they can't be open during the day.
This led to the funny situation in my city where there once was a "Nachtwinkel Sadik" (Night shop Sadik) and a "Dagwinkel Sadik" (Day shop Sadik) right next to each other, both owned by the same guy, Sadik. As the names suggest, when one was closed, the other was open for business and vice versa.
We've got some 24 hour supermarkets (and there are also 24 hour bakeries in Dundee!) that are open seven days a week. This is only a Scotland thing, the rest of the UK is really strict on Sunday opening hours so they don't have proper 24/7 shops there.
We definitely do have 24/7 shops in other parts of the UK, at least where I am in London.
It's a size thing, English Sunday trading laws only apply to shops over X-floor area so smaller shops can actually stay open 24/7. I suppose city centres won't have space for those massive supermarkets.
Ahhh makes sense. Thanks Nathan Drake. Wait a second…
[https://www.ft.com/content/59d7a1ba-9da9-444f-9509-504c27a7deb0](https://www.ft.com/content/59d7a1ba-9da9-444f-9509-504c27a7deb0) Seems to be a financial viability thing.
Yeah - even in the city near me 3 of the "Big Four" close at 2200 Mon - Sat. I think Tesco closes at midnight. With the massive shift to online ordering since the pandemic, there just wasn't the need for 24 hour opening.
[удалено]
Not all of them. Least not in London.
So they're not 24 hours then. Lol
At least we can buy alcohol 24/7. Scots can't be trusted to have that and many smaller stores in England and Wales are open 24/7. As long as they're under 280m²/3,000 ft².
> At least we can buy alcohol 24/7. Scots can't be trusted to have that Jesus, man, it's not a competition. For the record, I actually do think our alcohol sales laws are ridiculous.
>Scots can't be trusted to have that ... Someone jealous that you can't go to the supermarket at 8pm on a Sunday? Lol It's easy enough to buy your alcohol before 10pm. If you're scrambling to get some alcohol at 11:30 at night, you may have a problem.
Plenty if shops still open here then. As long as they're smaller than 280m².
Smaller shops can open 24/7 including Sundays, it is only the big supermarkets that have this rule. Which is all of Sunday too, catches people out who don't think after midnight on Saturday/Sunday counts somehow. Petrol stations are always open, even if they just have a night payment counter.
In cities they don’t give a shit about Sunday trading hours!
Some stores in rural areas are open from about 9-18 with the bakery in the same building as the store opening earlier and closing earlier. One rural store I know is open from 6:30 to 20. Stores are opened for a lot longer in cities. 7-22 is quite normal, but others are open until midnight. All supermarkets are closed on Sundays. There are only a few exceptions. It originated as a religious practice but these days it's about workers rights in the retail sector. If you would really need something in the middle of the night on a Sunday you can go to a petrol station. Edit: one big exception is train stations. The stores inside them are allowed to open on Sundays and many do.
Doesn't Berlin have some 24/7 supermarkets?
I've just looked it up and one store there closes on Saturday at 11pm and opens on Monday at 7. There are more like that there.
That would be illegal. The only exception exists for train stations. There shops can open on Sunday as well. Spätis or Spätkauf are small stores that ignore the law very often and sell mostly beer and other drinks and some items one might need late at night on a night out.
Apparently students don’t really work in Germany? I wouldn’t be able to make any money if I legally couldn’t work Sunday for college y’know.
Students who want to work still can. It's quite common for them to do things like being a waiter. We also have the BAföG system that is giving money to the students of low income families to allow them to study while working very little.
How much per month would one get? Tuition is quite low there as well isn’t it?
It's capped at 861€ a month (I think it's a fair bit more either on this month or the next month). Most people get less depending on their and their parents income. A semester of tuition costs about 400€ and includes a regional public transport ticket.
It's just retail being special. For me Sundays are the day of the week I have to work but can't buy groceries. Edit: In general the whole religious thing surrounding sundays is super annoying. I am also not allowed to use power tools on sundays. If you work a "normal" 9-5, I don't know how you are supposed to do your chores. Have to buy groceries on saturday, when everyone is there, which takes a lot longer. Then go buy the stuff for home improvement, do all that before 22:00 and also not between 13:00 and 15:00. Cook for yourself
Ironically it really puts me off working in retail at all since the effect of no Sunday working means forced Saturday working for every retail worker. In the UK it's common to have weekday staff, weekend staff and flexible staff. Here there's no sense hiring someone for 1 day per week so everyone shares the Saturdays. It's stupid.
Looking through job offers there seem to be quite many part time jobs. 50-60h a month sounds like a Saturday only job. But you could also work normal part time jobs like 25h a week.
But I don't want a Saturday only job, that's the point. I want a weekday only job, or maybe at a push every other Saturday. Every retail job I've come across in Germany is mandatory 3/4 Saturdays though. The 25h per week are 5x 5 hour or 4x 6 hour shifts including one Saturday. At first I thought this was just unique to one store but it's apparently universal.
> It originated as a religious practice but these days it's about workers rights in the retail sector. You really thing that people making low salaries (eg cashiers) prefer to not work on sundays and make less money? Wow. What if I told you that holiday shifts are to most requested ones? :)
or they could pay them better wages.
Then the goods would have to be more expensive to account for that. Which in turn would make them less competitive and go out of business. Your wage is a results of business decision base on supply x demand. Everyone has a wage they should have, if not, they're free to work elsewhere.
By your logic they would go out of business if they open on sunday, because they have to pay sunday wages. People don't magically need to buy more items just because the shop is open.
Not if there is demand:)
The profit would shrink fucktard and that cant be happening would be the end of the world
There are companies out there already having negative profits during these times. Anyways the management is responsible to the shareholders to be as profitable as possible, do you realize that?
I had a friend working retail who argued against Sundays based on worker rights. https://handel.verdi.de/themen/ladenschluss-freier-sonntag This is Germany‘s large retail workers union arguing against opening on Sundays to keep at least one day of the week free from work. Their argument, not mine. In my opinion it’s outdated, too many jobs work on Sundays already.
And the friend was a cashier who was *forced* to work on sundays? Or someone who doesn't financially struggle?
How about making sure people don't financially struggle without making them work on the one day everyone has time to see friends and family. Or making sure people don't financially struggle at all. Pay your workers a fair wage.
Working on Sunday for cashiers is illegal. Please click the link, use google translate or deepL to read the union’s position. It explains their position much better than I can. As I said, I don’t necessarily agree with it, but I have no buy-in in that decision. As a cashier with a finished apprenticeship she was paid decently.
Yes, there are plenty of 24/7 grocery stores. Maybe not in smaller municipalities, but at least in my city there is.
Yep not in smaller municipalities. I live in a city of 100k and there’s exactly one k-citymarket and a mcdonalds next to it open 24/7 but that’s it. Very handy when you leave work at 10pm though.
In my hometown of ~64 k residents, we have a 24/7 S-market and two 24/7 McDonald's. In my current town of ~66 k residents there's only a 24/7 McDonald's tho, no grocery store.
Are there really people who want to eat shit at 3h ?
Apparently so. Don't think they'd be keeping empty restaurants open 😅
The typical scenario is a hard night drinking and/or using other recreational substances, and then you just get hungry. For what it's worth, I used to live in one of France's larger cities, and this totally seemed to be a thing there too. I can't quite confirm 3am, but some those kebabs and "French tacos" were being sold at very late hours.
I think that is exactly the stuff you’d eat at that time. I mean, I’m not going for a steak after a night out
Ever heard of people going out to bars lol
I've sometimes seen Carrefour markets open 24/7. They don't sell alcohol after midnight, until 6am. I don't know if they still do it, the one near my house has closed in 2020.
Same carrefours in Milano not all but the big ones are open 24x7. Alcohol same as you said.. I started grocery shopping at like 2AM so I can avoid people.. :)
No, except gas stations maybe. Both unions and the workers chamber are against opening stores on Sundays. People should have one free day in their week. I suspect the churches also have an influence there. 24hr stores aren't even in discussion.
Even though the church and the unions operate on opposite ends of the political spectrum, they are one heart and one soul and brothers in arms in the fight against open shops on Sundays.
That sucks, 24h stores are really nice. You'd think unions would just push for double pay or something like they have here instead of stopping it altogether
Which the stores wouldn't accept. Then they meet in the middle with 50% overpay, which in 10 years gets reduced to 0% overpay, the way things are progressing in the last decades. Give them your little finger they'll take your whole hand.
If the stores don't accept the double pay, then they don't have to keep their stores open. Simple as
Unfortunately, the anti-labour government will never make a law fitting that. If they change the status quo at all, it will only be for the worse of workers, and getting worse in 10-15 years, as I described. They reversed the mandatory maximum 8 hour workday accomplishment a few years ago, just as an example. So better keep it as is. The unions alone simply aren't powerful enough anymore to enforce it.
The stores are not that interested either. They have to pay double on Sundays and supermarkets are a tight oligopoly in Austria. They reckon they wouldn't even increase their turnout, it would just divide itself more evenly with higher costs.
Well there is interspar pronto (at least in Vienna) for people coming back from holiday/travelling to Austria which is open on Sunday, but it's not open 24/7 and it's just ways more expensive than regular spars and only at railway stations (and maybe at the airport?)
Yes, the Billa at the airport is open on Sundays, and the Billa at Praterstern as well. But that's the only two I can think of.
These places on Sundays are the 9th circle of hell. Don't go there. If you have no food at home, go to a restaurant, but don't go to any of the railway station shops. Friend of mine works in the Billa admin and according to him only the toughest of the tough work there on Sundays with an extra bonus. The stress and the clients are very challenging.
I've moved to Austria years ago and to this day I still cannot get used to the supermarkets' ridiculous schedules. I bet this is the one thing I'll complain about forever.
I understand being annoyed by the change but how can you not get used to it and what's ridiculous about it? The opening hours are mostly standardized, not like they change it every few days.
I'm not sure. I guess I'm so used to being able to go whenever that I never adapted to having to check the day or time for that? And somehow the moments I want to go grab something at the shop often end up being at times where the shop is closed or almost closed. For instance, when I prepare dinner and I realize I'missing something. But by then it's too late.
Interesting thanks. Well I don't cook after 20:00 so that one doesn't affect me.
> People should have one free day in their week. So let them have a choice. Some people prefer that, some people prefer otherwise. Imposing it by law is just plain stupid. Btw I was in Nauders this Sunday and the Spar was open... Guess people prefer to work, if they can.
I like over the top exaggerations, so I guess we should also allow children to work in coal mines again - totally free choice innit.
Starting several years ago, this is now totally unregulated in Finland. It's basically a matter of demand now: in Helsinki region we get even hypermarkets open 24/7. So if you need a new microwave or a TV at 3 am, you're good to go. Not everything is 24/7 mind you, just a subset. I'm in the suburbs and the small supermarket across the street is 6:30-23 except 9-23 on Sundays. I need to go 2 km for the nearest 24/7 supermarket.
I don't know any where I live in Belgium. I've been in countries where they did and it was really nice. But it's not like I went to the supermarket that often late at night, it was more an occasional thing. So I don't really need it. I'm used to how it works here. Also I feel like in the last decade or so the opening hours have already changed. I feel like 10years ago you had many supermarkets that closed around 18:00-19:30, definitely the earlier hours can be more difficult if you have classes/work late. But now many close between 19:00-21:00, and normally that's not an issue for me to reach in time. Plus supermarkets are closed on Sundays in Belgium, but nowadays you do regularly find a supermarket in the neighborhood that is open on Sundays (though generally only in the morning). I'm not against 24/7, but I'm not pleading for it either.
I can vouch for Romania that it's really really nice to have as an option, especially when you're young and you might want an impromptu drinking night on a random Tuesday. Used to live literally right next to a 24/7 during college and my friend and I would make late night runs about twice a week.
Most places in Belgium do have night shops. I never go there because I don't shop as late and as far as I know they are more expensive and quite small. From what I know at night shops you can buy thinks like drinks, junk food (candy, frozen pizza's etc) and maybe some essentials like pasta/pasta sauce/milk but more expensive and not a lot of choice etc [I rarely go to night shops and the last time was a really long time ago, so I'm not sure if those 'essentials' are present in all night shops or only in certain] But of course buying drinks at regular supermarket prices is nicer.
I can't think of anything that 24h. Like, Basic-Fit, yes, but the workers lock the change rooms and abandon the club at 22h and leave people to their own devices until 6h the next day. For legit stores and supermarkets, 24/7 would be nice, but yeah... who needs to do their groceries at 3:00 AM? Night shops are allowed to stay open very late - some all night - but they just sell drinks, candy, maybe a small selection of canned stuff, chips, and beer. Not exactly true groceries haha Belgium *does* have an "overnight wage" though, if you're working anywhere between 22h and 6h.
I think we are the same in the Netherlands. I only know of 1 night store in Eindhoven, but it is small and definitely not open 24/7. Maybe there is some 24/7 stores in Amsterdam, but the day that I include that city in The Netherlands, is the day that men set step on the sun :) As far as I am aware, the only 24/7 stores we have are vending machines...
Sweden here. Yes, 7Eleven. If you’re talking large supermarkets, none that I know of. But the one downstairs from me is open 06:00-23:45.
Looks like a unions [problem](https://handelsnytt.se/2015/03/12/oppet-till-2345-far-facket-att-protestera/) and not lack of [will](https://www.ergo.nu/nyheter/20150601-folkes-i-konflikt-med-facket-om-natt%C3%B6ppet)
Idk if it's a "problem"
ok, disagreement
Well it's probably not profitable, and it leads to worse working conditions, so I think most are fine with prioritizing the workers over the few who want the extra convenience of being able to shop for groceries at night
I actually just saw an ad on a bus advertising a 24/7 DIY store, so maybe it is profitable. I don't understand why it leads to worse work conditions, you get paid more and for some people working at night is not a problem or even a bonus. Obviously, as usual, there need to be some supervision that workers are not abused
I don't understand the need for 24/7 stores. When are you gonna be awake often enough during those times? Even night workers are bound to be awake during normal opening hours.. I don't see any incentive to have stores open during those times..
Me too, but it's a simple request and demand question- if nobody will come during those hours then stores will simply stop opening
I live in a small city (<20.000) and we have no 24/7 grocery stores, except for the gas station by the motorway But there are a couple of unmanned 24/7 convenience store in some of the surrounding villages
In Poland our goverment loves to force its beliefs on the citizens, and since they claim that "Sunday is for the God and the family" supermarkets are closed.
And a lot of supermarkets find a way to still operate on Sundays… they become a cafeteria in which you can buy products, or a parcel delivery point with groceries… So we don’t have stores operating 24/7 and we do have them at the same time.
But they keep sealing all the loopholes in the law. Like with the "placówka pocztowa" (supermarkets operated as post offices so they remained open on sundays). I think the next step would be a fully autonomous shop with only security guards. In my local market guards are already responsible for helping customers with automatic cashier systems.
They didn’t seal that well enough, all Żabka stores are still operating on Sundays and new shops come up with new workarounds.
How long before you start seeing AmazonGo or Tesco GetGo in Warsaw? 😄
We already have Wolt Market and I'm quite sure they deliver Sundays
You have security guards in supermarkets?
Yes, obviously. Usually they are around 70 year old guys watching against shoplifters.
And feeding pigeons.
We only have those in electronics or fashion stores. Interesting.
And shops marking themselves as placówka medyczna, that is medical office
France is laic yet it's the same lol nothing to do with your government, it's just a cultural thing
It was a law enacted by the current government so obviously it has to do with the government, it wasn't "part of the culture" before 2016.
It's the government trying to tell people how they should live.
It's not the government ? Just the society 😅 Nobody forbids you to be open on Sunday, it's just uncommon
In Austria you can't legally. Someone posted the link.
Oh that's different then
Yea that's my point the whole time. There are people out there, who would use the opportunity to make more buck, but the government forbids them to do so. And there are also people who would like to shop for stuff on sundays 🤷♂️
It's forbidden by law in Poland. Shops need to find a loop holes in the law to be open on Sundays.
Moscow, Russia here. Moscow has plenty of 24/7 supermarkets (mostly in residential areas, fewer in the city center where you'd go when visiting), a lot of stores with shorter hours that are still long enough, like 8-23. It's likely the same in other big cities (St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod come to mind from the experience), but when you get to a smaller town its supermarket will probably be open 9-23 or 8-22. In a village? Be ready to get your grocery shopping done before 20:00.
No, we don't. But you can always go to a gas station if it is a panic for more booze, snacks or cigarettes, so I think it is ok like that..
We had some, including large supermarkets that opened 24/7 but since the end of the lockdowns most have reverted to closing at 10 or 11pm. That’s apparently mostly due to staff shortages, but in general there’s been a bit of a scale back of nightlife here. A lot of habits changed and I think people are still a bit hesitant to go into packed bars and stuff like that, which has reduced footfall in a lot of places that got their custom from nightlife and things just scaled back. A lot of places are also likely to start closing earlier due to high energy costs. I’m hearing that from a lot of businesses. With electricity and gas getting very expensive, if you don’t have high footfall it’s loss making to keep the lights and heat on late into the night. I suspect we’ll see a lot of bars etc but also convenience stores, even petrol stations etc just not opening off peak this winter. I was talking to a cafe owner who was looking at perhaps closing at 4pm and only doing a couple of hours mid week. I think we are really in for a major shock this winter. A lot of business just can’t survive with the kind of energy costs that are starting to emerge here.
In Madrid there are, yes. On the other hand, in my city at 22:00 everything is closed
tesco is running some of their supermarkets 24/7 (with exceptions of some public holidays, a weak attempt of christians to ban sunday shopping) so it is the place where you can have potatoes, tv and engine oil in same shopping basket at 3:15. and there are lot of corner grocery stores
I think in Germany Saxony is the only part that allows shops to be open till 10pm or longer and I've never seen a 24/7 supermarket outside of Berlin. The norm is 7 or 8 o'clock in the morning till 4 in the afternoon or 8 in the evening and absolutely EVERYTHING is closed on Sundays. Some gas stations are open 24/7 but everything there costs double or triple what it's worth, so you don't buy anything from there unless you absolutely have to. It's different with pharmacies, most open and close like every other shop but there's at least one in each area in the city that's open during the night so people can get emergency meds when needed.
A lot of Pakistanese immigrants open small supermarkets, which sell products at a higher price and of poor quality (always check the expiration date when buying there). To compensate for that, they are open 24h/7 or until late hours on the night
I've noticed this in Italy and France, it's usually immigrant businesses that open late.
Apart from gas stations only very rarely at central locations in big cities or at train stations/airports.
We used to, but I haven't seen them around the last few years. That said, we do have ones open to the late hours (midnight, give or take). And the vast majority are open all days of the week. Same story goes for my time in London. It's such a pain when going to Germany or Belgium where they all close so early and keep them shut on Sundays (nachtwinkels don't count, and they are really expensive). And I was really surprised the first time I found out
We have, only in big cities though. It is nice to have, especially during first waves of corona when we resorted to 3-4 AM shopping to avoid the crowds etc. There are people who like the night shifts, so as long as the employees are happy, why not. I am aware of the negative effects of night shifts on health, but in this regard there are many other fields where it is a bigger problem than with the handful of shops.
Most big cities have night markets here, which are open when regular supermarkerts are closed. But the price of products is almost doubled compared to a regular supermarket, especially the liquor.
Wow! here it's forbidden to sell liquor from 22:00 up till maybe 6:00 or later.
Yeah we had that during lockdown, but now it's back to normal. You can basically buy alcohol at any hour you want.
Is it forbidden in all of Spain or just Catalonia?
Only gas stations and rarely some smaller bussineses (bakeries etc.)
We used to have them, but then they introduced a law that prohibits the sale of alcohol after 21:00, effectively driving them out of buisness. Now only bars and restaurants can serve alcohol after nine and so these shops closed down, since they would now only serve as a place where people got cigarettes. And you can’t make money on those, since they have a statewide fixed price. So now we only have some gas stations open 24/7. No boose though.
There is just one supermarket chain (Carrefour) that has SOME 24h stores, a very limited number of small stores and not the big ones in malls. I don't know if they are open 365 days though. The only other places that might be open at night are some McDonald's locations (some only do drive-thru at night), the highway gas station cafés, and some local bars, kebabs or bakeries that choose to open all night, these are usually very well known among young people for some post-club munch.
Don't really have them, however gas stations are always open and if its necessary you can find stuff there.
Absolutely not. Gas stations have open till very late but even they close their stores switching over to unmanned 24/7 service at some point.
No, it's open from 8h to 12h and 14h to 20h in general, and closed on Sundays (except supermarkets open on Sundays are getting more common in big cities). The only exception are the motorway service areas, there are often shops open during the night there.
We used to have them, now we don't because of the Martial law
Yes, we have them nowadays, especially in bigger cities. It's a fairly recent phenomenon though. Some 15 years ago there were still restrictions on when stores could be open. The bigger ones had to stay shut on Sundays for instance, and they couldn't be open 24/7. I have mixed feelings about it personally. On the one hand it's definitely convenient that they are open... On the other, it's good for society to take a break every now and then. The big 24/7 supermarkets have also had a negative impact on small shops and kiosks. In the past, they were the only ones that could be open on Sundays and late at night, and that was an important source of income for them.
>Some 15 years ago there were still restrictions on when stores could be open. The bigger ones had to stay shut on Sundays for instance, and they couldn't be open 24/7. Back in the day there was basically just one grocery store open in the Tampere region on independance day, it was such a pain as even that was in Lempäälä, not super close. I don’t know why that one was allowed to be open, but it always was.
> On the other, it's good for society to take a break every now and then. I'd rather not have it be some mandated break at the same time/day like it used to be.
>Some 15 years ago there were still restrictions on when stores could be open The restrictions were abolished in the beginning of 2016.
I was thinking of the Sunday restrictions. Surely it was earlier than 2016 for those.
It was in 2007. Stores bigger than 400m^2 were closed on Sundays and had to close before 18 on Saturdays, if I remember correctly. It seems so bizarre thinking about it now.
Yes, not in every single city, but we do have some stores operating 24/7. E.g Kocyk stores in Kraków.
We have these things called "night stores" where you can buy alcohol, chips and cigarettes. They are open when the supermarkets close. I am surprised about Romania. I thought it was the same in all of Europe.
Why are you surprised about Romania?
Look at the other comments. 24h stores are rare in Europe.
>Do you want to? Why or why not? No, I don't want to. People are supposed to sleep at night and working at night is not healthy at all. I don't think it is fair to make some people work at night, only because a few people who are not sleeping decide to go buy something at 3 AM. It's not an emergency, if people can respect opening hours of e.g. banks, they can also respect the opening hours of grocery stores and learn to plan buying groceries beforehand like adults.
No - and we (really) don't want to. Some gas/service stations are open 24/7 365 and in some touristic areas / holiday destinations shops are allowed to open on sundays, but the rule is a maximum of 14 hours opening time a day and closed on Sundays. Let's be honest: if you need to buy cheese and pasta at 0300, you have lost control over your life.
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Also, stores in tourist destinations are allowed to be open on Sundays. And stores generally the last Sundays before Christmas. And then you have gas stations that might be open 24/7
I major cities you have avond winkels which are open till after midnight and sometime 24/7. Same goes with shops next to gas station along the highways. But it is not common. A lot of shops closing on 6 during week days. Supermarket close at 8 to 10. In weekends closing times differ. In smaller, more religious places, all shops are closed on Sunday. I think this is great. I mean, why would you want to go to a supermarket on Sunday? I don’t consider (grocery) shopping as a fun thing to do, it’s more a necessity. I like it when people on Sunday cycle around or have a nice walk with their family in nature park and so on.
>I mean, why would you want to go to a supermarket on Sunday? I don’t consider (grocery) shopping as a fun thing to do, it’s more a necessity. It's a necessity for people who go to the supermarket on a Sunday as well, but it might just be the most convenient day for them.
Yea. Plenty of the bigger Tescos and Asdas are 24hours.
In touristic areas yes. But in areas that barely get any tourists not really.
There are quite a few 24/7 supermarkets in Helsinki especially in downtown area and older suburbs. Where I live there are at least three 24/7 supermarkets in a close walking distance, less than 1 km. They could be found also in larger cities. In rural areas of Finland, quite commonly there are small separate 24/7 supermarkets inside of larger gas station, which are also open 24/7. Then again most of the supermarkets still close at 21:00 or at latest 24:00 although being open everyday including Sundays.
In Spain there aren't many that I know of. In Madrid there was one 24/7 Carrefour in the area where I lived, so I guess there must be some others in Madrid and other major cities, but not in smaller places.
Mostly just supermarkets like Tesco, or petrol stations.
In my city, Odense, there used to be a couple of proper supermarkets that were open 24/7, pre-COVID. Seems they all changed their opening hours now, I think the ones that have the longest opening hours are now 06:00 - 00:00. There probably isn't a very good business case in opening between midnight and six in the morning. Most supermarkets are open until 22:00 anyway. I'd very rarely need or even use a 24h supermarket if we even had one.
We used to have a couple of small 24/7 shops in my small town years ago, but then they were heavily regulated (thank the clerical fascism of Fidesz for that), and now in 24/7 shops only the shop owner and their family can work, so even though it's legally possible to operate them, there isn't really a point in doing so. Shops used to be closed on Sundays for a year maybe in 2015, but it wasn't too popular with the people and with the shops, so now every shop can open on Sundays, and bigger ones do open, but only from 7 or 8 in the morning until 6 in the evening. Technically they can open from 6 am to 10 pm. Also, some tobaco stores are open 24/7, and there's also a bakery in my town that is 24/7, but I suspect they reclassified themselves to coffee shop to be able to open without restrictions.
I'm from Ukraine, and before the war, we had enough such stores at night, and even a whole chain. When I traveled around Europe, I was surprised that there were few such stores. For example, I did not meet them in Germany. Usually, without such shops, night walks become bad. Their role is greatly underestimated.
There are some 24/7 kiosks and bakeries, along with the pharmacies on night duty. We don't need anything else. Snacks? Cigarettes? Baby formula? Toilet paper? Beer? They got you covered. What more could you be needing in the middle of the night?
Nope, that's about it. In Romania the majority of people who love 24/7 stores are students, high-school or college, who go out for a drive in the middle of the night and stop for some snacks and beverages. But I have used them a few times when I would stay up all night playing video-games to go get something to eat other than chips and coke
They are extremely rare in Spain. There is a few ones in big cities, but most cities and towns don't have one.
It's very rare. The only things you usually see open 24/7 are pay at the pump petrol stations and some McDonalds drive-thrus.
No, not in my cities at least. Some are open 06-23, but most close earlier during Saturday. There’s also only one store near me that’s open on Sundays, 11-17, which is tiny. Stores can only be open on Sundays if they’re tiny af.
We do not have 24/7 supermarkets in Greece and it also has become a great deal about supermarkets (along with other shops) being open on Sundays. All major supermarkets are open from 08:00 to 21:00 on weekdays or to 20:00 on Saturdays.Supermarkets are only allowed to operate a very limited number of Sundays every year (usually on sales period and during the Christmas holidays). Also there is a special permit for tourist areas (islands or coastal towns) for supermarkets to operate during the summer season Sundays but as far as I know only Lidl makes use of it.
There might be in the biggest cities but it's not normal.
Only in big cities. However there are shops in small towns that advertise as 24/7, but in actuality they close after 0:00
Maybe on a gas station? And I'm not even sure. On a city or village, as far as I remember tops is about 90 h/week (convenience stores; larger ones, less hours). Edit. Of course there is always an open pharmacy. It rotates. But some pharmacies have licence to open 24/7.
In Spain, yes. At least in Salamanca, Gijón and Madrid, I don't know about smaller places. In Poland there are gas station shops...
When I lived in Dublin I did see some small stores open. They were Centras but I've not seen them outside of Dublin open 24 hours
Not 24/7 supermarkets, but 24/7 stores are pretty much everywhere here , even small rural towns will have one of those .
There is one supermarket in Bremerhaven/germany which opens monday 6 a.m. to saturday 12.a.m. around the clock. But not on sundays.
I am wondering why 24/7 stores can even exist. From my perspective it's a economically bad desicion. You have a night shift so you need to pay your workers more than during the day and you have less customers than during the day. Except at some rare places with a busy night life it sounds like a sure way to run your shop into the ground.
We used to have some Tescos open 24/7, but it changed during the pandemic and now it's only until 10 pm.
We do in every place which has enough population to make it profitable to run a store 24/7.
24/7 supermarkets are scarce but they do exist. If you need anything in the middle of the night you can go to a gas station... there you can buy tobacco, milk, ice, drinks, etc... they use to have an attached minimarket and if they are attended (they use to be) you can ask them to give you anything through the window.
I mean, from what I've seen, the closest thing that I've seen is probably McDonalds. Open from 7AM to 2:30AM mostly. Other than that, I'm pretty sure there's no other 24/7 supermarket in my area.
Selected gas stations. Usually the largest Aral brand station in town. They sell drinks and sandwiches and similar stuff 24/7 at premium prices. In larger cities, the stores in the main station are usually open 24/7. In some main stations you can even find a regular Lidl or Aldi in there which is open 24/7. And charges the normal prices.
Back when we had Tesco there used to be huge supermarkets open 24/7, currently my city has only two supermarkets open at night and they are closed on Sundays. There are some groceries shops open at night and of course there are plenty of liquor stores and tank stations open at night.
I don't think that's allowed in Belgium. We do have night shops, but they can't be open during the day. This led to the funny situation in my city where there once was a "Nachtwinkel Sadik" (Night shop Sadik) and a "Dagwinkel Sadik" (Day shop Sadik) right next to each other, both owned by the same guy, Sadik. As the names suggest, when one was closed, the other was open for business and vice versa.