// Sainsbury’s to extend opening hours in the run-up to Christmas
// The grocer joins a growing list of non-essential retailers such as Primark, which are looking at extending opening hours
// Sainsbury’s would be extending opening hours from 6am until midnight in “the vast majority” of its stores
Sainsbury’s has said it will extend opening hours in the lead up to Christmas, after other retailers Aldi and Waitrose already made the move.
The Big 4 grocer said it would be extending opening hours from 6am until midnight in “the vast majority” of its stores from December 21 to 23.
The grocers join a growing list of non-essential retailers such as Primark, which are looking at extending opening hours in the three weeks after stores reopen on December 3.
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- M&S to extend opening hours until midnight in time for Christmas
On Christmas Eve, most Sainsbury’s stores will be open from 6am to 7pm as it made the decision to extend opening hours to give “customers more time to shop safely with us”.
Meanwhile, Aldi will extend opening hours between December 21 and 23 until 11pm, while more local Waitrose stores will extend opening hours until 11pm in the run-up to Christmas.
Nevertheless, Asda also said some of its stores already have flexible licences “so opening hours in these locations can change if needed”.
Last week, Marks & Spencer announced it would keep around 400 of its shops, or two-thirds of its estate, open until midnight for the first time.
This marks the longest ever store opening hours that the retailer has offered in time for the festive period.
Last year, M&S had extended the opening hours to just 15 of its stores.
The two-third of shops to offer this includes nearly all food-only stores (excluding travel locations) and combined Clothing & Food stores on retail parks such as the new Nottingham Giltbrook store.
Shops on high streets and in major shopping centres will generally be open until 10pm.
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