The eternal discussion about store opening hours
This year's Marketing meets Science | Kulhavy Lectures | Praxisdialog event was dominated by the eternal discussion about opening hours in stationary retail. The exciting evening was once again jointly organized by the Marketing Club Linz and the Institute for Retail, Sales and Marketing.
As a starting point for the discussion, Dr. Ernst Gittenberger presented the latest IHaM analyses on the views of consumers, which were prepared exclusively for the event. Conclusion: While the majority of Austrians consider store opening hours during the week to be sufficient and appropriate, Sunday opening continues to polarize opinion.
In the subsequent discussion round - moderated by University Professor Dr. Christoph Teller - the consumers' perspective was broadened to include social, cultural and entrepreneurial aspects of Sunday opening in stationary retail. The discussion also focused intensively on employment aspects and the current opening hours regulations and the question of whether these will still be up to date in 2024. Renate Heitz (Member of Parliament for Upper Austria), Andreas Haider (Managing Director of Unimarkt), Heinz Mittermayr (Alliance for a Free Sunday) and Josef Strutz-Winkler (food retailer and Chairman of the Food Retail Committee of the Upper Austrian Chamber of Commerce) took part in the panel discussion, which was followed by critical and controversial questions and statements from the audience.
We would like to thank the panelists for their interesting statements and all guests, especially the members of the Marketing Club Linz and the students for coming and joining the discussion.
You can find more photos here (Cityfoto), opens an external URL in a new window.