Shop opening hours in your country

[Syt]

Since it's come up and seems to be a contentious issue ...

What are the opening hours in your country?

In Austria, supermarkets are open 7-7, on Saturdays 7-6. There's some exceptions (main train stations in Vienna, airport). Many non-chain retailers close at 6pm. In malls you sometimes get opening hours till 8 or 9 on special days (Thursday). And of course almost everything is closed on Sundays.

In other words, if you want to do some shopping for clothes, shoes, books etc. without running into time constraints, you should do it on Saturdays LIKE EVERYONE ELSE (elbow use or valium before going to the mall or shopping streets is advised).

Pharmacies are probably most tightly regulated - they have to close by 6pm on a working day and are not allowed to open on weekends. In Vienna, ca. 40 pharmacies cover those those slots on rotation (you have to check which one is open after hours or on weekends). Open meaning, the have a street counter open. You can't walk in. No, I have no idea why that is.

Oppression of free enterprise? Or protection of powerless employees against exploitation? Anyways, polls in Austria show that people are happy with how things are. I wouldn't mind stores being open till 10 pm and on Sundays, but I'm selfish like that.

[Duque de Bragança]

Outside of train stations and airports, Sunday is indeed Lord's Day in Germanic countries.
One has been able to find supermarkets open on Saturdays afternoon for about ten years only though in Germany, and some supermarkets close at 22 if not midnight in some cases (like the big one with a very good beer selection near the Police HQ in Frankfurt) as in big cities.

As for France, Paris is a special case with lots of supermarkets (primarily foodstuffs though) open on Sunday morning and even some "tourist" area open all Sunday and/or closing at midnight on weekdays e.g Champs-Elysées. Otherwise, 9 to 20 or 22.
The small grocery has to be open all times like all night to stay in the competition
In general, this goes for all France, the first shop to open at 07:00  is the bakery for the baguette and croissant.

As for Portugal, hypermarkets have it easy being open the from 8 to 20 even on Sundays and not just in Porto, Coimbra and Lisbon.

Pharmacies are tightly regulated in both cases.

[Eddie Teach]

Major grocery stores open 24 hours, others close between 10-12 pm. Open 6 am generally. Retail stores(besides Wal-Mart and Target, which are frequently 24 hours) usually close around 9 pm. Open around 9-10 am. Restaurants likely to open at 11, close at 10, though some places are 24 hours.

I frequently do my grocery shopping at 3 in the morning cause of my wonky sleep schedule.

[Grey Fox]

It's complicated.

None-essential Retail stores can open 8 am - 9 pm on week days and 8 am - 5 pm on week ends.
Grocery stores and pharmacy can be open for 24 hours but very few do. Grocery stores will usually open at 7 am and close a 10 pm but they have limits on how many employees they can have (4 after 8 pm for grocery stores).

Hardware stores cheat their morning opening hours by offering services at 7 am to contractors only.

There's also exceptions based on location.

[Ed Anger]

I like wandering WalMart at 3 am.

[dps]

Major grocery stores open 24 hours, others close between 10-12 pm. Open 6 am generally. Retail stores(besides Wal-Mart and Target, which are frequently 24 hours) usually close around 9 pm. Open around 9-10 am. Restaurants likely to open at 11, close at 10, though some places are 24 hours.

I frequently do my grocery shopping at 3 in the morning cause of my wonky sleep schedule.

Note that in the US, for the most part, there are no longer any legal restrictions on the hours a store can operate (there are usually some restrictions on the times that things like alcohol can be sold, but a grocery can be open 24/7 and simply curtail beer and wine sales after that time);  operating hours are determined by custom and by sales (for some stores, it's simply not profitable to be open 25 hours a day).

[CountDeMoney]

I like wandering WalMart at 3 am.

Where Junkies and Drunks Save Money.  Live Better.

[Ed Anger]

I like wandering WalMart at 3 am.

Where Junkies and Drunks Save Money.  Live Better.

And everybody seems to have some sort of leg injury.

[Syt]

Must look like the zombie apocalypse then, when everyone lurches through the aisles at 3 am.

At least I hope you're not using one of those motorcarts.

[Ed Anger]

Must look like the zombie apocalypse then, when everyone lurches through the aisles at 3 am.

At least I hope you're not using one of those motorcarts.

Nah. It's actually good exercise, since the Wally Worlds are the size of a small country. Just wander, watch the interesting wildlife and pick up useless shit.

[CountDeMoney]

"Oooh...look, Honey...Swiffer refills on sale!"

[Ed Anger]

I'm all alone at 3 am. 

[Syt]

Must look like the zombie apocalypse then, when everyone lurches through the aisles at 3 am.

At least I hope you're not using one of those motorcarts.

Nah. It's actually good exercise, since the Wally Worlds are the size of a small country. Just wander, watch the interesting wildlife and pick up useless shit.

I was at a few Walmarts in NC; I wasn't too impressed, positively or negatively. A big ass store, so ... yeah.

It was much more interesting to gawk at people when we went to the Saturday flea market or any kind of thrift store.

[garbon]

Walmart attracts an interesting sort. Though maybe that's the sort that NC is full of.

[Iormlund]

I used to work at an electronics retailer, that was open 8:00 to 18:30 (except lunch time). The supermarket closest to my home opens at 9:30 and closes at 21:30. Chinese stores are pretty much always open.