Shopping hours

Customs and regulations for shopping hours (times that shops are open) vary from country to country.

Some countries do not allow Sunday shopping. In Islamic countries some shops are closed on Fridays during noon. In Israel many shops are closed on Friday evening and Saturday during daytime. Each state in Australia sets its own standard trading hours, but in most of the country the shops are open seven days a week for at least part of the day. For some shops and other businesses Christmas Day is the only day in the year that they are closed. In the US a shop may often be open all days of the year except Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day (most often - virtually everything closes on that day in virtually all communities), and Easter Sunday, although in smaller communities many stores will be closed on all Sundays. In Islamic countries shops may have special opening hours during Ramadan.

In Britain, most retail shops are generally open 6 or 7 days a week. Typical opening times are: Mondays - Saturdays 9am to 5:30pm Some shopping centres stay open until 8pm or later Sunday- 10am to 4pm (or 11am to 5pm) Sunday shopping has become popular in recent years and most large shops in towns are open for business. Shops in England Wales and Northern Ireland are only allowed to trade for 6 hours on Sundays. In Scotland, in theory, Sunday is the same as any other day although in practice many shops do not open at all or just open for four hours in smaller towns. Large supermarkets are open for 24 hours except for Sundays. Again Scottish legislation allows true 24-7 trading and the large chains do not close at all. Many supermarkets and superstores otherwise open from 8am until 10pm from Mondays to Saturdays and 10am to 4pm (or 11am to 5pm) on Sundays.