Business Hours Thoughts

#1

I am thinking about opening a half day on Sundays. What are the thoughts on open on Sundays? Right now we are open Tuesday thru Saturday 10:00 am to 6:pm.

#2

Without knowing the City you are in or the traffic pattern, it is hard to answer. I can tell you that we stay open on Sundays from 10am to 7pm and we do quite well.

In our area, Sunday traffic is slower but the customers that do come in tend to stay a little longer. Get some sports up on the TV’s and give them something to do.

For the VERY busy people, the weekend is the only time they have to get out of their weekly pattern and do something fun.

#3

One metric I base being open on Sunday is how many other shops in the area are open. I am only open from 10:00 till 4:00pm on Sunday. I am in a town of about 33,000 with a sister city of about 35,000. I am averaging about $1100. This adds about $4400. a month, or $13,200. a year. For me its well worth it.

#4

We are located in a small town under 9,000 but draw from much larger areas around us. We are the only store in town, closest store is 25 miles.
Have had customers ask to be open on Sundays. As always trying to move forward.

#5

Try it for a month. Maybe now that Football is happening you can host “Football Sundays” at your shop and see if you get a response. If all else fails, you get to watch football at work! :wink:

#6

we are open 7 days a week. Sundays are always a decent day for us and definitely justifies staying open. In a small town of 10,000 people.

#7

We began opening Sundays in May, for the second time.
When we opened in 2013 we tried it for 6 months but it wasn’t paying wages most Sundays.

The first 4 weeks were less than $200/wk as people were learning we were open in Sundays. We are averaging $325/wk so far.

Sadly this has not increased overall sales, just shifted them from other days of the week. I plan to continue it through the end of the year and reevaluate.

#8

Something to consider aside from the dollars and cents of a Sunday alone. Customer bleed off to either another shop or smoking or to digging around online. Our business is convenience, and sometimes the customer will tell themselves “well this just aint convenient for me anymore” even though it just one day they can get their gear/liquids. Also, Sundays always are the day you sell hardware because your customer lost it or dropped it out and about on Saturday night LOL. I used to close on Sunday around 2013 I was surprised when I was cleaning or doing chores on Sundays how many people attempted to open the door on an obviously closed shop.

A pack of Marlboro is always a liquor store or gas station away. So if you can find it within your budget to open on Sunday even for a few hours I would say it’s worth it. Hopefully it won’t be totally dead. Some of your Mon - Sat traffic will come in on Sundays.

#9

Overall sales is a great metric to track, and you’ve used it in the correct sense here. Great catch.

#10

A lot of great input from everyone. But if it only means spreading the same profit from five days to six. I don’t think it’s worth giving up a day off.

#11

We are in a similar market, town of 9,000 with the closest shop being about 30 miles away. Sundays can be hit or miss. Our loyalty account system shows that most of our regulars stop in during the week, but we see an uptick of folks “just passing through” on Sunday. I think that we sell about another $800-1000 per month than we would if we were closed on Sundays

Like me, you are probably one of the biggest towns in your area. Lots of people that live in the surrounding very small towns come into town on Saturday and Sunday to hit up Walmart and the grocery stores so it might be good for you to open up on Sundays.

Also, a bit off topic, but what are your thoughts on opening at noon ans staying till 8:00 a day or two per week? Closing at 6 prevents many of the local “professionals” from being able to get in to see you.

#12

We have tried 12 to 8 for almost a year. We found that after 6 we just sat around looking at each other. We open at 10 but are here at 9 to clean the store and they we open at 10 they start coming in right after 9.