South Australians eager for holiday deals will have the opportunity to shop up until midnight on Black Friday. This extension of shopping hours aims to provide shoppers with added flexibility during the bustling sales period leading up to Christmas.
Scheduled for November 29th, mass discounts on Black Friday have become a crucial event for local consumers and retailers alike. 2023 saw Black Friday marked as the busiest sales day in Adelaide’s Rundle Mall, as reported by the Adelaide Economic Development Agency.
This year, Kyam Maher MLC, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector, confirmed that the extended trading hours will not only apply to Black Friday but will also include three specific weekdays in December during the lead-up to Christmas. Stores in Adelaide are authorized to operate until midnight on Thursday, December 19th, Friday, December 20th, and Monday, December 23rd.
This initiative stems from legislation enacted on November 1st 2022, following a promise made during the Labor election campaign. The Shop Trading Hours (Extension of Hours) Amendment Act 2022 brought significant changes. It allowed shops in Adelaide to begin Sunday operations at 9am, extended trading rights on Boxing Day to include both the city and suburbs, albeit with the exception of larger supermarkets.
This shift marked a departure from previous regulations where Sunday trading hours were limited from 11am to 5pm and only CBD shops were permitted to open on Boxing Day during the same hours.
Kyam Maher highlighted the significance of these changes, stating, “Black Friday has cemented itself as a permanent fixture in South Australia’s retail calendar.” He added, “This is the third year in South Australia where midnight trading on Black Friday has been guaranteed under the Government’s changes to the legislation in 2022.”
He also noted, “Our changes to shop trading legislation in 2022 have offered certainty to shoppers and businesses alike across Black Friday and the Christmas period.”
Such regulatory adjustments are designed to support both consumers seeking more convenient shopping times and retailers looking to capitalize on the heightened sales activity during this peak shopping season. The expanded trading hours can potentially lead to increased sales volumes, benefiting the local economy.
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