German stores can now stay open 24 hours a day. But that's not necessarily good news for the country's shoppers, writes Derek Scallyin Berlin
Visitors to Germany regale friends and family on their return with anecdotes of shopping expeditions gone wrong. A sweater on a Saturday night? Forget it. A quick trip to Ikea on a Sunday afternoon? No chance. For 50 years, the land of the economic miracle has had some of the strictest opening hours in Europe, with shops closing at 8pm, Monday to Saturday, and not opening at all on Sunday.
Apart from petrol stations and train stations, the only late-night traders are kiosks selling cigarettes and alcohol. Go out looking for a bottle of milk late at night and you're likely to return in despair with a bottle of beer instead.
But that's all history since yesterday, when restrictions were lifted on opening hours around the country, allowing shop-owners to decide their own opening hours and even stay open 24 hours if they wish.
The law change was made possible after the federal government agreed to hand over responsibility of opening hours to Germany's state governments.
Berlin got a head start last week by abolishing the 1956 laws. Now stores in the capital can open around the clock but have to close on Sundays and on holidays. Limited Sunday trading is possible, but only on 10 days a year, four of which have to be during Advent and the other days decided by store owners.
In celebration, Berlin's largest book and CD store decided to stay open all night. Bild newspaper sent a journalist down to record scenes from the retail revolution. "3am: A lonely macarena band keeps playing music to keep awake the cashiers in the deserted store."
What happened? In Ireland, cheers drowned out the protest when 24-hour shopping arrived a few years ago and now the Irish have become a nation of shoppers. In comparison, Germany is home to the cautious consumer. Despite the law change, none of the major chains, such as H&M, Karstadt, or Metro have immediate plans to open any later than before.
"There hasn't been a major eruption," said Nils Busch-Petersen, head of the retail trade association for Berlin and the surrounding state of Brandenburg. "Most stores will experiment with their hours until finding a formula that fits them best - something which could take a year."
The slow change is necessary because any extension of opening hours must be approved by company employee councils. In addition, many stores have already said they see no advantage in opening later because their customers have no more money in their pockets than before to cover stores' increased overheads.
"We've been pushing for flexible shopping hours for years," said Ulrike Hoerchens, press spokeswoman for the HDE retail association. "Retailers must be given scope to set their hours fully in accordance with the wishes of their customers."
But what exactly are the wishes of German customers? In trying to find out, Germany's retailers and legislators seem to have found a very German solution to a German problem.
A decade ago, most stores in Germany were forced to close at 6.30pm on weekdays and 2pm on Saturdays, with most Sunday shopping banned by the constitution.
A law change in 2003 allowed shops to stay open until 8pm on Saturdays. But after a few weeks of empty stores, most decided to pull down the shutters by 6pm at the very latest.
Consumers became the guinea pig in these opening hours experiments.
The avant-garde who showed up to shop on Saturday evenings were confronted with shuttered stores and went back to their old shopping habits.
Adding to the confusion is the fact that each federal state will implement its own opening hour legislation. Berlin is expected to be joined by several western states in abolishing nearly all closing requirements. But the southern states of Saarland and Bavaria are expected to leave the closing laws untouched.
A survey last week by the Forsa polling agency showed that 58 per cent of Berliners said they planned to use the extended opening hours, while a sizeable 42 per cent said they were opposed.
So maybe the retailing revolution will take hold in Germany. Or, then again, maybe it won't. Buyer beware.