Report: Traffic, staff numbers rise in retail since Sunday openings

Analysis

jessica fejos

Unofficial trends show that, since the mid-April repeal of legislation restricting retailers from opening on Sundays, traffic in stores and the number of people working in the sector’s big retailers grew, daily Magyar Nemzet reported. Nevertheless, according to the report, customers are happy to shop any day of the week.

Although the report cautioned that not enough time has passed to make a definitive judgement, it said that positive trends show the repeal of the Sunday closings law had beneficial effects on purchases. 

Lacking official statistics, the paper asked retail chains to comment on the changes in recent weeks, and drew conclusions based on the answers from Tesco, Spar, Aldi and another unnamed retailer.

When introducing the Sunday closings law around the beginning of last year, the Hungarian government insisted that both the number of workers and customers will grow in the sector if retailers are required to stay closed on Sundays, while retailers, fearing revenue losses, opposed the introduction of the measure on March 15, 2015.

The law was withdrawn by request of the government on April 12, after the opposition Socialists obtained permission to hold a referendum against the measure.

Hungary Account Deficit at EUR 561 mln in Q4 Debt

Hungary Account Deficit at EUR 561 mln in Q4

Moldovan Pensions to be Increased as of April 1 World

Moldovan Pensions to be Increased as of April 1

Schoenherr Names Miklós Klenanc as Head of Local M&A Practic... Appointments

Schoenherr Names Miklós Klenanc as Head of Local M&A Practic...

Hungarian Wine Marketing Agency to Host Summit Drinks

Hungarian Wine Marketing Agency to Host Summit

SUPPORT THE BUDAPEST BUSINESS JOURNAL

Producing journalism that is worthy of the name is a costly business. For 27 years, the publishers, editors and reporters of the Budapest Business Journal have striven to bring you business news that works, information that you can trust, that is factual, accurate and presented without fear or favor.
Newspaper organizations across the globe have struggled to find a business model that allows them to continue to excel, without compromising their ability to perform. Most recently, some have experimented with the idea of involving their most important stakeholders, their readers.
We would like to offer that same opportunity to our readers. We would like to invite you to help us deliver the quality business journalism you require. Hit our Support the BBJ button and you can choose the how much and how often you send us your contributions.