Mixed views on Easter trade hours

Wairarapa retailers say the steady stream of visitors through Wairarapa over the Easter long weekend makes it a highly busy and lucrative time. FILE PHOTO

Wairarapa retailers are positive about trading on Easter Sunday as long as they all stand together.

Many retail shops are forbidden to open on Good Friday and Easter Sunday but change is afoot as the government plans to let councils decide whether to allow businesses in their region to open on Sunday.

Retailers spoken to by the Times-Age say the steady stream of visitors through Wairarapa over the Easter long weekend makes it a highly busy and lucrative time.

But they have mixed feelings about the proposed change. Black Sheep Jewellery owner Lynn Simpson welcomed the idea with open arms.

"Come Easter weekend Masterton is humming, everything is booked out and we can't have these penalties not to open.

"There's an awful lot of people that come to the Wairarapa ... and they wander around with nothing to do. They want to spend money in the town."

She called for a level playing field among towns in New Zealand, saying it's "crazy" that Queenstown and Taupo are allowed to trade over Easter but other towns are banned.

Mrs Simpson does not think her staff would resent losing one of their guaranteed days off.

"It's not a problem.You can't make someone work due to the way the law has been worded and there will always be someone who will want to work the extra hours."

Hedleys Booksellers owner Dave Hedley is behind the move, saying though there are plenty of other days to shop, reliance on tourism means it is important for shops to be open.

"With competition from online shopping we've got to be open as much as is realistic. We've always got to change with the times to keep up with what people are wanting," he said.

But embracing the change depends on whether there is a community feeling to open, said Mr Hedley.

"There's no point in a shop being open in isolation. If the whole town rallied around with a keeness to open collectively then we [Hedleys] would be right there."

Designer Clothing Gallery in Greytown would also only open on Sunday if the rest of the community wanted to, owner Penny Barnett said.

While she believes Easter weekend is a welcome respite and enjoys giving her staff time off to spend with their families, as a part of the Greytown retailer community she would feel obliged to open.

"It's really frustrating for customers when they come to a town like Greytown for shopping and they find some shops open and some shops not.

"As part of a community you've got to do the thing that will keep visitors happy and keep coming back," she said.

The proposed change would leave the trading ban on Good Friday in place, a compromise approved by most retailers.

C'est Cheese is open on Easter Sunday as a provider of ready to eat food and owner Paul Broughton says while the weekend is his second largest weekend of the year he is comfortable staying closed on Friday.

"It's one of two days a year I don't have to go to work."

The law change is expected by Easter 2017.