Germany: Shop Until You Drop?

It's a long tradition in Germany: Get up early and run to the store on Saturday morning to shop for the week, because you might as well forget about picking up anything on Sunday.

But over the past few years, shops in large German cities have begun staying open longer on weekdays and Saturdays to meet consumer demand. Some crafty stores have even skirted the Sunday shopping ban by claiming tourists as shoppers as these shops are allowed an exemption.

But now, Germany's parliament, busy with federal reform, has decided to repeal a 1956 "store closing law" and make it easier for consumers to spend their money when they please.

"Germany has a too complicated and protracted decision-making process," Chancellor Angela Merkel told parliament last week.

Regional decisions

The repeal of the Ladenschlussgesetz (store closing law) is part of a series of 25 measures to reform the federal system to give the 16 states more power in matters of health, education, wages and prisons. In exchange for the devolution, the federal government's power is enhanced by cutting in half the number of laws that must be approved by state legislatures.

As a result, the states will be able to set their own shopping hours. Currently, stores are required to close by 8 p.m. and stay closed on Sundays. That is later than allowed until 1996, when shops were required to close by 6:30 p.m. on weekdays and 1 p.m. on Saturdays.

Trade unions have protested the proposed changes the law, saying it helps provide families time together and protects small businesses, which could be pushed out of the market by larger corporations that force their employees to work longer hours.

Despite the pushing for the reform, government officials said they hope the states don't change current hours.

"It would be good if the states do not approve more than four Sundays a year that stores can stay open," said Merkel.

Changes ahead

The reform package will be voted on July 7 by Germany's upper house of parliament. If approved as expected, the measures will take effect in 2007.

In Berlin, as well as a number of other states, officials said they plan to keep the Sunday shopping ban on all but a few Sundays each year but will leave other times up to store owners.

Still, even now in most large German cities such as Berlin, Munich and Hamburg, it is possible to buy goods on Sundays at gas stations, train station shops or in certain stores in tourist zones. The immigrant communities, such as the Turks, also often do business on Sunday.

Meanwhile, during the World Cup, many stores, such as Swedish furniture giant IKEA, have taken advantage of a temporary suspension of the shopping rules and have extended their store hours to remain open on Sundays.

However, a quick look at these stores is telling, as only a few customers can be seen strolling through the aisles as most people are out enjoying the unusually beautiful weather or watching matches