Store Hours in Retailing with Particular Emphasis On
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STORE HOURS IN RETAILING WITH PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON NIGHT OPENINGS DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By f LEONARD W f PSESTWICH, B. S., M. S. ****** The Ohio State University 1957 Approved by: Dr. William R. Davidson Department of Business Organization TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION.................................... 1 Importance of the Problem of Store Hours . * 2 Scope and Complexity of the Problem of Store H o u r s ...................................... 4 Controversial Nature of the Store-Hours Issue 7 Store-Hours Problem More Crucial for Shopping Goods Retailers ....................... 9 Long-Run Changes in Store Hours an Adjustment to Changing Social and Economic Conditions . 14 Specific Store Hours— A Local Problem .... 17 Relationship between Store Hours and Employee S c h e d u l e s .................................20 Store-Hours Decisions Generally Made with Little Scientific Research . ............... 22 II. HISTORY OF HOURS OF BUSINESS IN RETAILING . 25 Scarcity of Specific Information on Hours of Business in Recorded History ............. 25 Early European Civilizations, the Middle Ages, and Nineteenth Century England ........... 27 America to 1950 35 Early America ............................ 35 Examples of Store Hours in the 1800’s . 36 NRA Codes and the Depression Period of 1930‘s ................................... 38 World War II P e r i o d ...................... 41 Postwar P e r i o d .............................43 The General Movement for Shorter Hours in Our Economy .............................. 47 III. PRESENT STATUS OF STORE HOURS IN THE UNITED STATES ..................... 50 Total Store Hours per W e e k .................. 50 Days Open— The Five-Day W e e k ................ 52 Sunday O p e n i n g s ............................. 55 Night Openings ................... 60 Daytime Schedules (Including Morning and Afternoon Closings) .......................... 66 ir0 0 Chapter Page Social and Economic Trends Related to Store H o u r s .........................................68 IV. LEGAL PHASES OF THE PROBLEM OF STORE HOURS . 76 Hours of Work Limitations ................... 76 Federal Legislation and the Possibility of Inclusion of Retailing under the Fair Labor Standards A c t ..................... 76 State Legislation ............................ 79 Restrictions on Night Work by W o m e n ........... 81 Laws Governing Day of Rest, Meal and Rest Periods for W o m e n ............................ 83 Child Labor L a w s ................................ 84 Sunday Opening Restrictions ......... 86 "Blue Laws" ............................ 86 Examples of State Restrictions.......... 87 City Ordinances--A Case History of the Provo, Utah, Sunday Closing Law ........ 88 Proposed Legislation in Massachusetts .... 94 Social Desirability of Hours Legislation . 96 Problem of Enforcement of Hours L a w s ........... 97 Conclusions .................................... 98 V. STORE HOURS AND THE CONSUMER— CONSUMER BEHAVIOR, OPINIONS, AND PREFERENCES .......................100 Night Openings ................................. 102 Extent of Nighttime S h o p p i n g ................ 103 Merchandise Purchased at Night ....... 108 Most Convenient Shopping T i m e s .............. 110 Why Particular Shopping Times Are Most Convenient................................. 116 Extent to Which Daytime Shoppers Desire Night Openings . ......................... 120 Daytime Schedules ............................. 121 Sunday Openings ............................... 123 Extent of Sunday Shopping ......... 123 Types of Goods Purchased on Sunday .......... 124 Extent of Consumer Desire for Sunday Open ings ........................... 126 Consumer Reaction to Sunday Opening Rota tion Plan for Drug S t o r e s ................ 128 Days per Week Open for Business ....... 129 Most Popular Shopping Days ..... ........ 131 Conclusions ............ 134 iii Chapter Page VI. STORE HOURS AND THE CONSUMER--IS THERE A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DAYTIME AND NIGHTTIME SHOPPERS? ................. ..... 137 Income Group ........ 140 Age Group .......... ............... 142 Marital Status . ..............................144 Occupation of Breadwinner ................... 145 Residential Circumstances ................... 147 Number of Children in Household . ............ 148 Ages of Children in Household .......... 150 Employment Circumstances ............. .... 152 Extent to Which Husband and Wife Shop Together 153 Use of Delivery S e r v i c e ....................155 Use of Credit and Returned Goods Privilege . 156 Location within Trading A r e a ............... 160 Summary and Conclusions ....................164 VII. STORE HOURS AND THE CONSUMER--IN-STORE SURVEY OF NIGHTTIME SHOPPERS ............................167 Purpose of S u r v e y ..............................167 Survey Methods ............................ .. 168 Survey R e s u l t s ................. .170 Consumer Desire for More Than One Night Opening per Week ............. 170 Most Convenient Nongrocery Shopping Night . 171 Why Particular Nights Are Most Convenient . 175 Frequency of Night Shopping T r i p s .......... 176 Proportion of Nongrocery Items Purchased in the Evening ............. 177 Marital Status of Nighttime Shoppers . .178 Occupations of Nighttime Shoppers ..... 180 Age Distribution of Nighttime Shoppers . 182 Location of Nighttime Shoppers within Trad ing Area .......... 183 Extent to Which Both Husband and Wife Work in Night time-Shopper F a m i l i e s ............ 185 Conclusions .................................... 186 VIII. NIGHT OPENINGS AND STORE OPERATION .............. 188 Convenient Store Hours--A Method of Nonprice Competition ...... 188 Are Night Openings Profitable? . ............ 191 Do Night Hours Bring Additional Business or Merely Rob Daytime Business? .............. 191 iv Chapter Page Per Hour Volume Daytime Versus Nighttime as Shown by Store Records and Executive S t a t e m e n t s ..................................196 Operating Expenses and Night Openings . 200 Conclusion ............................. 201 Increasing the Profitability of Night Openings by the Individual Merchant ...................202 Review of Differences between Daytime and Nighttime Shoppers ................... 202 Formulating Operating Policies and Proce dures for Night Openings on the Basis of the Major Characteristics of Nighttime S h o p p e r s ....................................203 C o n c l u s i o n .................................... 210 IX. STORE HOURS AND PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT ............ 211 Employee Work Schedules--Present Status and Trends ........ ..................... 212 Employee Attitudes toward Work Schedules . 214 How Significant Are Store Hours in General and Night Openings in Particular in Decreasing Retailing's Ability to Attract and Hold Qualified People? ........ ......... 220 Night Openings and the Question of Premium P a y .......... 226 Problems Incident to Maintaining Store Hours Longer than Employee Work W e e k .............. 227 Store Hours and Personnel Standards ..... 229 Union Stand on Store-Hours Developments . 230 Summary and Conclusions ............ 233 X. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS . .................235 Nature of Store-Hours Problem ........ 235 Present Status of Store H o u r s ............ 236 Legal Phases of the P r o b l e m ...................237 Store Hours and the Consumer ...................238 Profitability of Night Openings .............. 240 Store Hours and Personnel Management .......... 242 Other Conclusions ............................. 243 APPENDIXES A. HOUSE-TO-HOUSE SURVEY METHODS . 245 B. QUESTIONNAIRES......................... 257 v Chapter Page C. PROPOSED BILLS AFFECTING STORE HOURS ........... 266 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................... 268 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Estimated Average Weekly Working Hours, United States, 1850-1960 ................................ 48 2. Length of Store Week in Days, Pennsylvania Cities, Classified by Size of City, March, 1955 . 54 3. Extent of Sunday Openings among Supermarkets, United States, 1950-1954 57 4. Night Openings among Main Stores and Their Re spective Branches, United States, 1955 62 5. Night Openings among Supermarkets by Region, United States, 1954 .......... 63 6. States Prohibiting Employment of Women at Night in Mercantile Establishments and Specific Hours During Which Such Employment Is Prohibited, United States, 1953 ............ 82 7. Percentage of Grocery Shopping Done in the Morn ing, Afternoon, aid Evening, Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah, November, 1954 .................. 104 8. Percentage of Nongrocery Shopping Done in the Morning, Afternoon, and Evening, Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah, November, 1954 ................ 104 9. Percentage of Salt Lake City and Provo House holds Who Have Shopped in the Evening for Grocery Items within Specified Periods of Time, November, 1954 106 10. Percentage of Salt Lake City and Provo House holds Who Have Shopped in the Evening for Non grocery Items within Specified Periods of Time, November, 1954 107 vii Table Page 11. Comparison of Morning, Afternoon, and Evening Shopping at Sugar House Shopping Center by Provo and Salt Lake City Households as Indicated by the Time of Last Shopping Trip, November, 1954 . 108 12. Types of Nongrocery Items Which Nighttime Shop pers Most Commonly Buy, Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah, November, 1954 109 13. Most Convenient Grocery Shopping