Closing Time

Recently, we have been visiting a major city in the US. The fact that much of the retail and restaurant world in Buffalo is closed on Mondays, really stands out to us.

When you do not live in a major city you have many benefits. Cost of housing tends to be more affordable, you know more of the community, and buying local is even more important. So, we ask, why are most retailers closed on Mondays in Buffalo? This is not our experience when we travel to NYC or DC, as examples.

People need to eat on Mondays yet it is a chore to find a place for lunch. We still need to buy gifts and we still need to wear clothes. Yet virtually every locally owned business we know of on the retail side is closed on Mondays. This is clearly not the case for professional services. Professional service firms sometimes respond around the clock and certainly are expected to be open the 5 business days a week.

When you set your business hours, take into consideration what closing at certain times or days may say about your business. Most folks understand the tradition of closing on Sundays, but Mondays? Is this just a smaller city syndrome? We can only say it is quite inconvenient for those of us who work on Mondays and need places to shop and eat.

To those local readers who have retail shops and restaurants open on Mondays, thank you for being open! Most of us truly do try and shop local but you need to be open when we need you. Please do not leave us peering in from the outside.

Be well.