Increasing Number of Shops Decide to Close on Christmas Eve

Libri is one of the shops that will close all its Hungarian stores on December 24. The company is doing this to help its staff to relax over the holidays, reports Világgazdaság.

In the retail sector, and therefore of course in the book market, the month or two before Christmas is the busiest, hence staffs are under a lot of pressure. Libri pays special attention to the mental recharging of its colleagues.

The book shop has joined the ranks of companies that have announced that they will be closed on December 24.

Previously, Lidl, Mountex, Jysk, Diego, and Penny, among others, have announced that they will not be open on this day.

Lidl was the first chain to introduce this decision.

Lidl Hungary has joined the initiative of CÖF-CÖKA (Civil Union Public Benefit Foundation) and egyenlő.hu, a modern trade union. The store will not be open on Christmas Eve, but will instead give all 8,500 of its employees the day off. The retail chain will be open with extended hours on December 23.

The agreement with the supermarket chain is a big step forward. “The company has made a gesture towards its employees that has never been done before in Hungary,” said Csaba Bubenkó, the union’s president. He added that with the help of social solidarity, it is possible for other chains to recognize that profit-making is not everything. In addition, there is a tight deadline: the decision on whether or not to close shops on that day must be made by December 10 at the latest.

Mountex, a retailer of outdoor clothing and accessories, also announced the closure. They justified the decision by saying they were putting families first. The company’s stores were also closed on Black Friday, November 24. This is not the first time the chain has done so, as it is the fourth year in a row that it has protested against the shopping frenzy, associated with a lot of waste and pollution. Instead, they have launched an initiative with the hashtag #szabadbanszabadon (outdoors free) to encourage people to be environmentally aware and to enjoy outdoor activities instead of unnecessary spending.

Danish retail chain JYSK will be closed again this year on December 24 as well. With the closure, the company also announced that they will bring forward the planned wage increase. This means that salaries will increase by an average of 20 percent from December 1. The salaries of JYSK Hungary employees have increased by an average of 45 percent since January 2022. The retail chain also stressed that it will open two new stores in Hungary this December, in addition to the 94 it already has.

Not only on Christmas Eve, but also on December 31, the Hungarian stores of Diego, a wholly-owned, international franchise retailer, will be closed. The decision was made by the franchise owners who run the shops, so that employees and family business owners alike can spend the holidays with their loved ones.

In addition, 230 Penny market stores in Hungary will be closed on December 24 this year. They have also announced, just like Lidl, that they will be open for longer hours on December 22 and 23 to help their customers get ready for the holiday festivities. This is not the first time in Penny’s history that it will not open on December 24. The last time it decided to close its stores on Christmas Eve was in 2016.

Via Világgazdaság, Featured image via Pixabay