ANCC-Coop once again calls for Sunday closures. President Dalle Rive: It would promote social cohesion. Family associations says: Unrestrained consumption exacerbates loneliness.
Closing supermarkets on Sundays allows us to rediscover the slower pace of celebration, of family time without the stress of shopping. The call for a step back from the liberalization process undertaken in 2011 by the Monti government, which made Italy one of the European countries with 24-hour shops, comes from Ernesto Dalle Rive, president of ANCC-Coop, the (Italian) national association of consumer cooperatives. It’s sparking a heated debate between supporters, convinced of the need to rethink a model that hasn’t produced the hoped-for increase in consumption but has eroded social cohesion, and detractors who consider the proposal anachronistic and entirely to the advantage of digital platforms. “We started from two considerations,” Dalle Rive explains, recalling that ANCC-Coop comprises 72 cooperatives with over 57,000 employees and 9 million customers each week in 2,200 supermarkets. The first is that for years, following the post-Covid euphoria, the families of our members and customers have been reporting a sharp decline in spending power. People buy less and spend more. Deregulation was introduced to encourage consumption, but today the problem is a decline in purchasing power, not an increase in service. The second reason concerns the growing awareness of work-life balance among workers, particularly during the recruitment process. Economically, Sunday closures would bring significant benefits, given that holiday work costs an average of 30-40% more. These resources are estimated at between 2.3 and 2.6 billion euros per year (based on research by Mediobanca), while the hardship affects just 10% of Italians, according to a survey conducted on a sample of 965 consumers by Coop. “Forty-three percent of those interviewed emphasized that if their supermarket closed, they would change their usual shopping days, demonstrating that another consumption model is possible.” The savings could be reinvested to benefit families through price reductions and a broader promotion policy. “Our intention is to initiate a reflection on where we are going as a society, what values we want to protect. We are ready to open a debate, both at the political and business levels, without taboos.” The reactions of other operators in the sector, however, are of complete rejection: it’s impossible to go back after 15 years.
“This is an anti-historical proposal that has no connection to reality. Society has changed, there are many families, up to 35% in large cities, single-parent families who need flexibility,” emphasizes Alberto Buttarelli, president of Federdistribuzione, which represents modern food and non-food distribution companies (including giants such as Esselunga, Pam, Despar, and Bennet) with 18,000 stores and 225,000 employees. The impact on employment, according to Buttarelli, would be devastating, especially for young people, who, thanks to part-time contracts, can work weekends and pay for their studies. This is without considering that Sundays account for an average of 30-40% of shopping mall sales. Confcommercio (the Italian trade union) also rejects the idea of shopping cart-free Sundays.
“The premise is that Sunday opening is an option, not an obligation” explains Enrico Postacchini of the national council. “Every business is free to choose. The crux of the matter is that we cannot abdicate our local presence because this would encourage unfair competition from e-commerce. The market has self-regulated in recent years: a balance has been achieved between large-scale retail trade and local shops, and, in effect, an almost total closure during major holidays.”
Family associations belonging to the European Sunday Alliance, a network of 100 organizations including Christian churches, trade unions, employers, and organizations, are in favor of shopping-free Sundays. Beyond the economic paradox, consumption is “spread” over several days but does not increase. It is important to assume that there is a day of “disconnection” not only from work and that it is the same for all family members. “Finally, a topic that seemed to have been forgotten is being brought back to the forefront” emphasizes Vincenzo Bassi, president of FAFCE (the Federation of Catholic Family Associations in Europe). “Excessive consumption only leads to loneliness, which is the most serious disease of our times. Perhaps keeping shops closed can help the community find other meeting places other than shopping malls.” In Europe, however, the situations are very different: in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, shops are closed on Sundays, with some exceptions in tourist areas, and many restrictions are also in place in other countries such as Norway, Belgium, and France.
The data tells us that purchasing volumes are not proportional to the number of opening days. Some countries have adopted a different policy, preserving Sunday as a holiday. Those who study relationships know that time is a fundamental variable, especially when it comes to the parent-child relationship. “Free time must be synchronous to encourage participation in family events—I’m thinking of football matches—but also community events” adds Adriano Bordignon, president of the National Forum of Family Associations. According to him, however, a U-turn is not currently feasible. “We need to move toward a compromise with closing a significant number of Sundays. An example could be the pharmacies’ rotation system” continues Bordignon. The hope is that this shared family time, “taken away” from other activities, will ultimately have positive effects on the birth rate as well.
This article was originaly published in the Italian newspaper “Avvenire” under the title “La famiglia al posto della spesa. Rispunta l’ipotesi delle domeniche “senza carrello””
