Opening hours | SHOPFLOOR ANALYSIS


parliament in 1986. But in a dramatic turn, the act was defeated by a rebellion of her own backbenchers. Then, under pressure from large


retailers to revisit this topic, eventually the Sunday Trading Act was passed in 1994, which liberated shops to open whenever they chose, but with the caveat that those stores of more than 3,000 sq ft were restricted to six hours opening time. Interestingly, throughout this entire period, Scotland left the topic of opening hours largely unregulated, despite the wrangling south of the border. While Sunday trading has been heavily debated, notably all of the big KBB nationals appear to open on Sundays as a matter of course. Scott Taylor, national retail manager of TKC, and formerly of Wickes, Wren Kitchens and B&Q, says: “Saturday and Sunday is worth 40% of your week in the sheds. Wren’s monumental success is based on merging the availability and experience of sheds and inde- pendents. High footfall retail days demand showroom coverage.” This sentiment is echoed by Hayley Simmons, a KBB specialist marketing consultant who used to work for Magnet. “When you have a lead who is ready to buy, speed is key,” she explains. “Having the flexibility to get the customer into the showroom quickly will give you an edge. “People lead busy lives, but are also impatient and having the diary space to offer customers appoint- ments in the evenings and on Sundays is an advantage.” Large independent showrooms often follow the nationals’ example. Darren Walker, managing director at Laings in Inverurie, explains that not only do they open on a Sunday, but they have even extended their opening hours from 12pm to 5pm after removing the late Thursday opening option.


It also seems that location and passing trade is also a consideration, as Mike Skelcher, retail sales manager at Rossendale Interiors in Bacup explains: “We are open seven days a week, but the team only has to work one Sunday in four, and also I club together their days off, as it’s better for their well-being.”


So, undoubtedly Sunday opening is seen as very useful in capturing browsing customers, depending on the business’s position in the sector, and for those locations/showrooms with high footfall.


But is it necessary across the independent sector? Many retailers have begun cutting Sundays out of their working week,


October 2022 ·


with Steve Root of Kent-based Roots KBB saying: “We used to be open seven days a week, but we now open six days. We do lose a small amount of business, but I estimate this to be between 3% and 4%.” Another retailer that has reduced the number of days it opens each week is JS Geddes in Scotland. Design director Joanna Geddes says: “Historically we were open seven days a week and one late evening, but reduced this post- pandemic by closing on Sundays, and dropping the late evening.” Regarding the merits of Sunday opening Alex Jenman, director of Gainsborough Kitchens, comments: “Once you’ve spent a few Sundays with no footfall, missing family dinners and days out, you start to realise it’s just not worth it. Best to offer ‘any other time by appointment’. You’ll be surprised how little it’s needed.” Have any of these retailers per - formed any analysis of what business is, or isn’t, being missed by closing the showroom on certain days? Stronge from Jones-Britain says that, over the course of a year, he kept a tally of on-spec showroom visits by couples on a Saturday. The results revealed that just five couples visited on a Saturday, and only one of those couples went on to buy. As a result, the showroom is open Monday to Friday with an appointment-only option for weekends.


Although some science can be applied, others, like Martin Jones, owner of Cwtch Haus Design, in Haverfordwest, are more phlegmatic. “I don’t know what business I’m missing by not opening on Sundays,” he says. “But, we offer appointments outside of our normal days and hours to serve our customers the best, although I’ve found that we’re able to manage the customer, rather than them manage us.”


The open-by-appointment model has very much been a feature of the pandemic, and for most retailers I spoke to in researching this article, they continue to offer it, often as a counterweight to opening fewer hours or days. But it’s not for everybody, as Justine Bullock, director of bathroom retail specialist The Tap End, in Pontyclun, explains: “When we first opened, I used to stay late, come in after hours for people who couldn’t make opening hours and even came in on a Sunday a few times. But I quickly realised that if people are serious, they will come to you when you are open and they make it work. “People who allow you to come in after hours or on days off usually


don’t value your time, and end up not really valuing your service and you end up setting a precedent from the outset that you will bend over backwards for them, and they end up being a nightmare to deal with.” For others, though, not having opening hours at all, and only opening by appointment, is their preferred business model.


Ethan Bowen, a designer at


Andrew James Kitchens and Bedrooms in Wakefield, explains: “We used to be open Monday to Saturday, but there was a lot of time wasted talking to customers who were looking for a product that we don’t offer, or were in the wrong budget bracket.


“All this information is available if they looked at the website first, and then called to make an appointment, at which point we would be able to evaluate if they are a qualified client. So now we work on an appointment- only basis, though the door is open when we are in the office as it reduces time-wasting visits by both cold- calling reps and unqualified customers”.


So why is it that many independent


showrooms are feeling that they can reduce their opening times with little effect on business?


Once you’ve spent a few Sundays with no footfall and missing family dinners and days out, you start to realise it’s just not worth it


Alex Jenman, director, Gainsborough Kitchens


Geddes says: “At our end of the market, people will make time to come within our opening hours. Most of our clients are business owners or retired, so they have the time during the week”.


Root at Roots KBB feels the same way about it, adding: “Clients with the bigger budgets, are generally more available, as they are often retirees or company owners.” So much for which days to open, but what about the actual opening times? Should you open early, or late, for longer or shorter days? Bullock at The Tap End explains that her company’s approach comes from her previous experience. “We’re open Monday to Friday 9.30am to 5pm, and Saturdays 10am to 4pm,” she says. “Because we used to work somewhere where the opening hours


were 9am to 5.30pm. We used to find ourselves hanging around with a cup of tea and having to cover for the people who were late for the first half hour of every day. Nothing tended to happen between 5pm and 5.30pm either, as all our suppliers were closed and that half-hour became a countdown until the staff could leave.” Similarly, Geddes has cut her


showroom opening hours. Previously, they would open from “8:30am to 5:30pm, but now we open at 9am to 4:30pm, because this gives the team a better work-life balance”. Mitchell Burton, director of Portrait Kitchens in Rye, explains that his opening hours have changed as his business has grown. With times from 10am to 5pm Tuesday to Friday, and 10am to 3pm, he says: “These days/ hours were originally set when I was a one-man showroom. Being closed on a Monday allowed me to be on-site for deliveries and run through jobs with installers on day one. “Opening at 10am allowed me a couple of working hours each morning to do any site visits or running around needed for the fitter/ customers, before being tied to the showroom for the day.


“But we have tweaked the hours over the years and I am considering opening on Mondays. We have just reduced our Saturday hours from 10am to 5pm to 10am to 3pm, because we have monitored footfall in the showroom this year and it drops off dramatically after 3pm”. These examples are for businesses that deal mainly with retail and the general public, but of course those that handle trade customers need to reflect their needs. Walker at Laings explains that his company’s contract division, Laings Direct, opens early Monday to Friday to cater for trade account holders, who start work early. Neil Brown, head of kitchens and


bathrooms at Independent Builders Merchant Group, adds: “Our trade counter opens at 7.30am while the showroom opens at 8am, as this is the norm among builders merchants, with competitors such as Howdens.” So, we have a broad range of ideas, opinions, methods and solutions to every business practice. Though many retailers have


reduced their opening days and hours post-pandemic, the question whether this reduction in hours will continue after the recent boom years, remains. I’ll leave the final word to Geddes, who says: “If your company is hitting targets, then no problem. If sales start to drop, this needs to be reviewed.”


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