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The purpose of this paper is to investigate consumers, family-run small businesses (small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)) and their employees’ perceptions and attitude towards reform of the Sunday Trading Act in Britain.

A multi-method approach was employed to collect data in this study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 27 family-run small business owners/managers, 25 employees and 30 consumers. A survey was also conducted amongst 385 consumers and 279 employees. A convenience sampling method was used to collect data. Interview data were analysed by using content analysis and survey data were analysed by using descriptive statistics.

The results demonstrate considerable support for extending Sunday trading hours. Most of the arguments against the reform were found to be redundant. The findings suggest that in contemporary Britain, the restricted Sunday trading hours are perceived to be outdated and inconvenient.

The findings demonstrate that a paradigm shift is needed to meet and understand the changing market conditions. This exploratory study is limited to the UK. Future research will be extended to other European countries.

This is the first academic study to investigate the current debate regarding the deregulation of the Sunday trading hours. This study highlighted the psychographic changes and socio-economic demand in the marketplace. Sunday trading offers different types of benefits to consumers, employees and SMEs. The study proposed an original model that categorised these benefits into three major levels: primary benefits, ancillary benefits and ultimate benefits.

Examines the likely implications for retail employees of a change in the law governing retail trading hours in Britian. Based on a survey conducted in August 1991 of 483 female employees in six retail organizations, the findings reveal that while only 15 per cent of the sample were not prepared to work on a Saturday and 25 per cent non‐standard hours (evenings), some 51 per cent said they were unprepared to work on Sundays and a further 21 per cent only seldomly. Only a small minority believed that working unsociable hours would improve their relationships with their children, partner and family, and for a significant proportion, the possibility of working such hours was believed to be harmful. Concludes that any change in retail trading hours would have considerable implications for the lives of those whom the Act was introduced to protect.

Examines the different employment structures in leisure and retail organizations in the light of the recent Sunday Trading Act, 1994. Considers the make‐up of staff; training methods; rates of pay and changing customer demand patterns in order to draw comparisons and identify possible emerging trends. Asks the question as to whether retail outlets and their leisure counterparts trade in similar conditions and what the impact will be on the Sunday labour pool and levels of pay. Draws interesting employment comparisons between leisure, part of the hospitality industry, and retailing as their opening times overlap to a greater degree. Finds that, consequently, they are increasingly competing for labour from similar sources.

Since the 1960s there have been over twenty attempts at changing the ambiguous and confusing 1950 Shops Act; the most spectacular failure was the most recent attempt, the Shops Bill in April 1986. This piece of legislation foundered although it carried the support of the Prime Minister, her Cabinet, and a sizeable number in the House of Commons. In all cases attempts to change the legislation has been successfully blocked by a coalition of churchmen, trades unions, some retailers and other committed sections of the general public. The latest attempt, in the form of a (Tory) Private Member's Bill, is currently under way. Its thrust is a much more watered‐down set of proposals than those suggested in the Auld Report (and subsequent 1986 Shops Bill), calling for only DIY stores and garden centres to be allowed to open on a Sunday. Dr Clements takes a look at the implications these proposals might have on enforcement of the law, and reports the findings of two consumer studies that suggest that the proposals are not going far enough for many consumers. Empirical data referred to in the paper is drawn from two studies, each of over 1,000 households randomly selected in North Staffordshire, in November 1983 and again in November 1985.

Americans who travel internationally are often shocked to discover retail outlets closed during weekend and evening hours in cities such as Paris, Rome and Berlin. Based on the implicit assumption that demand clearly exists, retailers at various locations throughout the globe have increased their hours of operation. While political debate regarding a variety of issues (costs, the rights of labor, religion, etc.) often rages, there has been an implicit assumption that latent demand for longer hours of operations exists. This study investigates through a longitudinal examination consumer perceptions of Saturday shopping in a country where such an activity was previously restricted. Specifically, studies perceptions of Saturday shopping among a sample of German college students who were raised with limited Saturday shopping hours. Data were gathered in 1996 – the year German legislation allowed expanded hours for retailers – and again in 1999, and comparisons are made. Strong differences are found between consumer attitudes towards Saturday shopping at the time of expansion and three years later, indicating the need for differentiating retail strategies in Germany and in other parts of the world that may soon be providing similar expanded retail access.

The question has been recently raised as to how far the operation of the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts of 1875, 1879, and 1899, and the Margarine Act, 1887, is affected by the Act 29 Charles II., cap. 7, “for the better observation of the Lord's Day, commonly called Sunday.” At first sight it would seem a palpable absurdity to suppose that a man could escape the penalties of one offence because he has committed another breach of the law at the same time, and in this respect law and common‐sense are, broadly speaking, in agreement; yet there are one or two cases in which at least some show of argument can be brought forward in favour of the opposite contention.

The Food and Drugs Act, 1938—or 1 and 2 Geo. VI. chap. 56—contains an important new provision. This provision is designed to prevent the practice of attaching to the containers of foods or drugs labels bearing misleading or exaggerated statements relating to the contents of the package whereby the purchaser is misled into believing that the food or drug he purchases has merits peculiarly its own, but which in fact it does not possess. In other words, this practice is an attempt on the part of the manufacturer or salesman to deceive the buyer as to the nature, substance and quality of the goods he buys.—It is a matter of additional satisfaction to note that the same section of the Act is also directed against the practice of causing to be inserted in newspapers or similar publications, advertisements making similar false or exaggerated claims for such inferior products. The malpractice referred to is particularly evident when certain proprietary foods and patent medicines are concerned.

This special “Anbar Abstracts” issue of the International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management is split into six sections covering abstracts under the following headings: Business Strategy; Personnel and Training; Marketing and Customer Service; Logistics and Distribution; Financial Management; Information Technology.

This special “Anbar Abstracts” issue of the Marketing Intelligence & Planning is split into seven sections covering abstracts under the following headings: Marketing Strategy; Customer Service; Sales Management; Promotion; Marketing Research/Customer Behaviour; Product Management; Logistics and Distribution.

This special “Anbar Abstracts” issue of the International Journal of Public Sector Management is split into six sections covering abstracts under the following headings: Culture, Strategy and Organizational Structure; Leadership, Management Styles and Decision Making; Personnel and HR Management; Training and Development; Information Technology; Marketing and Customer Service Strategy.