Dunedin City Council has decided to allow retailers to choose whether to trade or stay closed during Easter Sunday shopping from next year.
“It’s great news for the retail sector, and for customers, that the Council has adopted a policy that allows retail shops to open their doors for business on Easter Sunday if they wish to do so,” said Greg Harford, Retail NZ’s general manager for public affairs.
“There will be lots of locals and visitors in Dunedin next year for the Ed Sheeran concerts, some of whom will want to shop. It makes sense that Dunedin retailers will, for the first time, be allowed to make their own decisions about whether or not to open.
Harford said Easter Sunday is not a public holiday, and while not all retailers will want to open and employees will want to work, the ruling allowed those who did wish to open to do so.
“The great news is that there are special legal provisions that protect the rights of businesses to stay closed and employees not to work if they do not wish to do so, so absolutely nobody is disadvantaged by the decision in favour of shopper choice.
“32 councils around the country have now adopted policies that support that choice. By adopting a policy that allows shops to open on Easter Sunday, the Council is leading the way in creating a level playing field for Dunedin retailers.
Some retailers will no longer have a commercial advantage generated by outdated exemptions in the shopping ban, and anyone from the biggest to smallest retailer can now legally open on Easter Sunday without fear of prosecution by the authorities.
According to Harford, 51 per cent of all New Zealanders undertook some form of commercial activity on Easter Sunday this year, and many shopped online from home.
“The Dunedin decision is a sensible and pragmatic one recognising the fact that there is some customer demand for shopping on Easter Sunday, and that the best people to decide whether shops should open are the managers of the businesses concerned, taking into account customer demand and employee views”.
