Blue laws are laws restricting or banning certain activities on specified days, usually Sundays in the western world. The laws were adopted originally for religious reasons, specifically to promote the observance of the Christian day of worship. Since then, they have come to serve secular purposes as well.
A convenience store, convenience shop, bodega, corner store, corner shop, superette or mini-mart is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items such as convenience food, groceries, beverages, tobacco products, lottery tickets, over-the-counter drugs, toiletries, newspapers and magazines.
Customs and regulations for shopping hours vary between countries and between cities.
The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) is a trade union in the United Kingdom, consisting of over 360,000 members. Usdaw members work in a variety of occupations and industries including: shopworkers, factory and warehouse workers, drivers, call centres, clerical workers, milkround and dairy process, butchers and meat packers, catering, laundries, chemical processing, home shopping and pharmaceutical.
Sunday shopping or Sunday trading refers to the ability of retailers to operate stores on Sunday, a day that Christian tradition typically recognises as a day of rest, though the rationale for Sunday trade bans often includes secular reasoning. Rules governing shopping hours, such as Sunday shopping, vary around the world but many countries and subnational jurisdictions continue to ban or restrict Sunday shopping. In the United States, rules are enshrined within Blue laws.
The alcohol licensing laws of the United Kingdom regulate the sale and consumption of alcohol, with separate legislation for England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland being passed, as necessary, by the UK Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, and the Scottish Parliament respectively.
Argos Limited is a British retailer operating in the United Kingdom online and through catalogues, and formerly in Ireland; it was acquired by Sainsbury's supermarket chain in 2016. It was established in November 1972 and is named after the Greek city of Argos. The company trades both through physical shops and online, with 29 million yearly shop customers, and nearly a billion online visitors per annum. It has also franchised overseas to countries such as China.
A liquor store is a retail business that predominantly sells prepackaged alcoholic beverages, including liquors, wine or beer, usually intended to be consumed off the store's premises. Depending on region and local idiom, they may also be called an off-licence, off-sale, bottle shop, bottle store or, colloquially, bottle-o, liquor store or other similar terms. A very limited number of jurisdictions have an alcohol monopoly. In US states that are alcoholic beverage control (ABC) states, the term ABC store may be used.
The weekdays and weekend are the complementary parts of the week devoted to labour and rest, respectively. The legal weekdays, or workweek, is the part of the seven-day week devoted to working. In most of the world, the workweek is from Monday to Friday and the weekend is Saturday and Sunday. A weekday or workday is any day of the working week. Other institutions often follow this pattern, such as places of education. The constituted weekend has varying definitions, based on determined calendar days, designated period of time, and/or regional definition of the working week. Sometimes the term "weekend" is expanded to include the time after work hours on the last workday of the week. Weekdays and workdays can be further detailed in terms of working time, the period of time that an individual spends at paid occupational labor.
The Christmas Day (Trading) Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It prevents shops over 280 m2 from opening on Christmas Day in England and Wales. Shops smaller than the limit are not affected.
The Sunday Working (Scotland) Act 2003 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The aim of the Act was to close an anomaly in employment law in the United Kingdom, whereby shopworkers in England and Wales had the legal right to refuse to work on a Sunday, when shopworkers in Scotland did not enjoy this right.
Keep Sunday Special is a British campaign group set up in 1985 by Michael Schluter to oppose plans to introduce Sunday trading in England and Wales. The Keep Sunday Special campaign was set up and is run as a conventional secular civil society organisation with support from trade unions, churches, political parties, private businesses, and members of all faiths and of none. It has no connection to the Lord's Day Observance Society.
The alcohol laws of Pennsylvania contain many peculiarities not found in other states, and are considered some of the strictest regulations in the United States.
The Shops Bill 1986 was a parliamentary bill in the United Kingdom that would have ended government regulation of Sunday shopping in England and Wales. Introduced by the Government of Margaret Thatcher, it was defeated in the House of Commons at its second reading; this is the most recent occasion at which a government bill has fallen at that stage.
The Shops Act 1950 was an act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which was repealed on 1 December 1994 by the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994. The introductory text describes it as "An Act to consolidate the Shops Acts, 1912 to 1938, and certain other enactments relating to shops.".
In New Zealand, a dairy is a small owner-operated convenience shop licensed to sell groceries, eggs, milk, dairy products, perishables, newspapers and other staples during and after normal trading hours. The Australian term milk bar is also often used to describe dairies.
John Hannett, Baron Hannett of Everton, is a British trade unionist and formerly General Secretary of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW). He was appointed a member of the House of Lords in 2024.
The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to repeal the European Communities Act 1972, and for parliamentary approval to be required for any withdrawal agreement negotiated between the Government of the United Kingdom and the European Union. Initially proposed as the Great Repeal Bill, its passage through both Houses of Parliament was completed on 20 June 2018 and it became law by Royal Assent on 26 June.
Shops Bill or Shops Act may refer to several pieces of legislation in the United Kingdom:
