Should stores close on Easter Sunday?

A retail lobby group says easter trading rules preventing stores from opening on Easter Sunday are outdated and in need of a revamp. Under the Shop Trading Hours Act 1990, most stores have to shut their doors on Easter Sunday - along with Good Friday, Christmas Day, and half of Anzac Day - with the exception of some tourist resorts and in areas where local councils have sought an exemption. Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young said the inconsistency under the current rules created confusion and it was time the legislation changed.

"The rules are set from a more traditional, old-school perspective, but we want to see ...



retailers have the opportunity to open, should they wish to - it's their choice if they decide to or not. "At the moment it's in the hands of local authorities, so every council around New Zealand can make a decision about when stores can open or not open." Young said allowing shops to open on Easter Sunday meant businesses could capitalise on an influx of holidaymakers, and said it would likley be a fairly natural decision whether to trade or not.

For example, she said, in Wairarapa stores in Masterton might not want to open on Easter Sunday, but a few kilometres down the road in "the weekend hive spot" Greytown, they might. "People are out and about spending money, people are going away for Easter, often domestically, you've got a lot of tourists from other areas." She said a change to the trading rules was "about flexibility and meeting the needs of people in 2025", for both shoppers and workers, and said some retailers on the shop floor might want the opportunity to earn some extra money.

"They're [often] young people, they're after an extra dollar, and they're quite happy to work to get that time-and-a-half and an alternate public holiday. "For some people that extra cash in hand is really useful." However, she said any law change should still potect an employees' right to refuse to work on Easter Sunday, which was provided for under the current act.

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