slothropbeen both sides of that counter
marighostThat comment also sucks when working holidays, particularly Thanksgiving. “They should let you be with your families!” Ok thanks, get out!
TerranFenrirExactly.
“Stfu, I need my stat pay”
KazuyaDarklightYeah that’s why, if I say anything, I thank them for being there.
If that person wasn’t there, you’d still be open though. From what I have seen of people going in during a holiday, they are all overworked with no time off and cannot get what they need beforehand, leading to them being essentially forced to.
Depends on the store. I worked at a big box hardware store and every public holiday you’d have old geezers just milling about wanting to strike up a 30 minute conversation with you about some esoteric project they’ve been working on for the last six months while you’re frantically mixing four different customer’s custom paint colours and trying to point other customers in the direction of things that have huge signs already directing customers to.
It’s a degrees of the same, they’re lonely and would be telling their kids/grandkids if said family weren’t also being forced to go to work. Next time you’re run into one, I’d encourage asking why they aren’t with their family/with loved ones.
I’ve gone to places on holidays only because I knew they were open. It wouldn’t have been a big deal at all if they weren’t open.
At least some places like New Zealand have a surcharge on public holidays.
NateNate60Most of the time, it’s the store being open that causes customers to come in. People expect places to be closed on holidays, so they check online. If the store’s listing on Google Maps or whatever confirms it is indeed closed, most people will just say “oh dang, too bad”. If it actually ends up being open then they go, buy their stuff, and then make a sympathetic comment to the employees.
The catch 22 is that the companies are opening on these days to catch the customers that come out. People go because the store is open, the store is open because people go. If people consistently, collectively didn’t go in, the stores would close.
but what fraction of those people are those that wouldn’t just go the day before or after closure instead?
The only gain the store is making is customers who need something that day and will go to another open store instead
Exactly…? If no one goes in, the store gains no benefit (only expending the cost of being open). But stores will open just on the off chance of customers coming in. And customers do go in, because the stores are open. Sometimes they go in and don’t even buy anything.
If you want retail employees to be able to spend holidays with their families, don’t go shopping on holidays. Make it unprofitable to be open.
nah. I’m not taking responsibility for shit management. I don’t care if they’re open or not, and I think they shouldn’t be, and it doesn’t change how much money I spend at their store, so they should close to save the labour costs. but it ain’t my responsibility.
I agree and that’s how i operate. However the counter argument to this is, if a store is open and no one shows up at all then next year they will not open because there was not a single sale. Not sure how acurate that is in terms of corporate BS but that is the general counter argument i hear.
That’s how the grocery store I worked at, Save A Lot, from 2014-2025 operated. Being open was based on the sales of the previous year. It also wasn’t uncommon that we’d just close after a few hours if no customers showed up. It’s what made me dislike customers on these days even more cause if they stayed home, I’d actually be able to go home early (or if I worked the closing shift, I wouldn’t have to come in at all).
Serious question: Is it about the tone or would you rather nobody comes? I mean it’s the same working hours for you. Where I live, shops are closed on holidays and Thanksgiving isn’t one so don’t ask me if I might be that customer.
When I worked retail, I would have rather nobody came at all. Store would then close up early for the day and I wouldn’t have to deal with the public for minimum wage.