I write this as the Queen's Birthday long-weekend in Adelaide comes to a close. My fiancee has been busy redesigning the front yard and I have been busy with all things technical as I usually do.
On all three days of this weekend - Saturday, Sunday, and the public holiday Monday - my fiancee has been to the local Bunnings Warehouse home improvement store to purchase tools, plants, and pavers for the garden. They were open 9am to 5pm all three days.
Today, the public holiday Monday, I discovered that it would be really helpful if I had a wireless USB adapter to ease the repair of a friend's PC from the comfort of my home office. Unfortunately, I live in South Australia, where we have legislation known as the Shop Trading Hours Act.
This Act, allows home improvement and furniture stores, among others, to be open on public holidays but it denies this same right to electronics and computer stores. This also has the absurd side-effect that Harvey Norman stores open for the sale of furniture and bedding but close access to the computers and communications section of the building.
Why is the consumer allowed to build a garden shed or install a new light fitting on a holy day or a public holiday but not permitted to install a new hard drive or fit surround sound speakers in their lounge? A March 2007 review of the Shop Trading Hours was heavily in favour of maintaining these ridiculous constraints despite the increasingly 24x7 nature of today's lifestyle.
Each business should have the option to open for trading if and when they choose. This decision should be based on the demand for their goods and services on certain days and times, the affordability of staff wages at weekend and holiday penalty rates, the personal beliefs of the owners, and anything else that may impact the profitability of the type of business in question.
Likewise, the devout consumer will prefer to spend Sundays and holidays at their place of worship or having quality time with their family while those without religious concerns or family commitments and wanting to get the most of their busy schedule can shop for items they need.