The issue of Sunday trading is likely to play a significant part in the lead-up to the State election following the Government’s rejection of a new proposal by a local homewares franchisee lobby group.
Harvey Norman chairman Gerry Harvey has taken up the fight on behalf of Franchisees Against Inequitable Retailing (FAIR), calling on the Western Australian public to push for Sunday trading.
In Perth this week to support the FAIR campaign, Mr Harvey told a WA Media Club event he had been debating the issue of Sunday trading for 43 years, and while the rest of Australia and the world traded seven days a week, he was at a loss to know why Western Australia restricted Sunday trading.
FAIR is one of three retail lobby groups in WA. The Retail Traders Association wants full deregulation of trading hours, while the WA Retail and Small Business Association is opposed to further deregulation.
Mr Harvey called for public support and even raised the prospect of Harvey Norman franchisees opening stores on Sundays in the six weeks before the election.
“We might make this a big issue,” he told WA Business News.
Mr Harvey said when he started his retail business in the 1960s he thought it was ludicrous that his stores couldn’t open on Sundays.
He fought the policy then with protest openings, a similar strategy employed last year by several Harvey Norman franchisees, who this week faced court for retail trading hours breaches.
“If someone told me that at 65 years of age I would be up here telling people they should be able to open on a Sunday I would have said it’s not possible,” he said.
Yet Mr Harvey acknowledges that full deregulation will affect small grocers.
“I can understand their story a bit,” Mr Harvey said.
“But there was a guy in South Australia who took on Coles and Woolies. He built this shopping centre and he couldn’t get them to go into it so he opened his one 6,000 square metre shop, and he is outperforming Coles and Woolies.
“There is great opportunity for smaller guys to get out there and knock the daylights out of them [the major chains].
“If you can open seven days a week then a lot of grocers will go out of business but they are going to go out of business anyway. If they are really good at what they do than they can do wonderfully.”
Local action group FAIR wants to steer clear of the grocery debate, instead wanting special treatment similar to that afforded to the hardware industry.
While its submission to Fair Trading Minister John Kobelke was rejected last week, the group will increase its lobbying efforts in the lead up to the State election.
In a statement to WA Business News, Mr Kobelke said accepting the proposal would have gone against the Gallop Government’s belief that Sunday should generally remain a family day.
But local retailer Rick Hart believes shopping is a family activity.
“What’s wrong with a family going shopping? They love it,” Mr Hart said.
He said WA’s current retail laws were inequitable and ridiculous.
“Some people can trade on Sundays and some can’t, but it’s ridiculous. Bunnings can open on Sundays but they can’t sell a toaster, they have to lock it up.”
Homeware retailers that currently open Sundays also want their competitors to trade, believing that if all homeware retailers opened on a Sunday it would prompt consumers to utilise the time for big ticket item purchases.
Retravision, however, remains opposed to Sunday trade.
Retravision business development manager Bob Rogers said staffing its 59 stores would be problematic.
“When it comes to our product, which is a high-tech product, do you want an 18-year-old uni student selling it to you or someone who is suitably qualified.”
But FAIR president and Osborne Park Harvey Norman furniture franchisee Rob Evans believes his customers would receive better service because current staffing levels couldn’t service the demand driven by Saturday trading.
