What happened to 24 hour supermarkets?

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Powerful_Cap5436@reddit

Our experience of Asda at Boston was the staff blocked all the isles and it was impossible to get down them to select items. after that we never went back. With the right staff training they could realise we are paying their wages from the profits the store makes. So many places have little out of the box training. We often want to shop when it is less traffic and with fuel being expensive NOW is the time to restart the idea.

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gnosticismschism@reddit

There's about 20 that are still 24/7 in England but nowhere lists which of them are these 20.

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Captaincadet@reddit

Supposedly it’s down to stocking times. They use to stock the shop mostly overnight so it didn’t harm having 1 person on the tills

Super markets realised during Covid that they could stock the shop for less between 8ish and midnight so it wasn’t worth having security( staff, paying for lights and heating etc for the few dozen customers they’ll get overnight

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Irrxlevance@reddit

Silly though as the picker packers for online shopping still work overnight. So there will be staff in those hours regardless

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tmstms@reddit

Aha! The real answer. But probably you have given it too late in the thread to get it as upvoted as much as it needs to be to enlighten everyone.

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HazzaYT_@reddit

Compiled a big list on google maps of some (NOT ALL) of the 24h Asda Superstores in the UK. Obviously at the weekends, the opening times are a bit weird because of the laws on Sunday but other than that, Monday-Friday you can expect pretty much completely 24/7.

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AnonymousTimewaster@reddit (OP)

Amazing. Iirc people in this thread were insisting Asda Eastlands is still 24 hours when it's definitely not (despite advertising as such on their signs)

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HazzaYT_@reddit

Oh thats interesting, I googled that one on maps and yeah, it says 24 hours.. confirmed 7 days ago. Maybe some aren't accurate then?

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macflod@reddit

The main reason they close is because they use the 6 hours to get the bulk of the online shopping orders sorted out. Its quicker without people in the store and the demand in online shopping rose during COVID

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tirerunona@reddit

yeah, used to be a late night lifesaver. now it’s all 6am to midnight.

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Shitelark@reddit

What were you buying at 2am that you couldn't at 11pm?

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404kink_notfound@reddit

Sometimes, when I was 18-20 and struggling, I really needed something before the morning, but I had to wait until after 12am for my money to reach my account. So I'd be able to get bread / milk / medicine at 00:15 that I couldn't get at 23:45. I knew a lot off people in this situation back then.

Also just the blessing of the quiet shopping experience as an autistic person who gets stressed out with all the people and beeping and cramped aisles of a daytime shopping trip.

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callisstaa@reddit

I live in Asia where 24 hour stores are still pretty common. People like to drink here so it's usually people buying beers or baiju to drink late with friends or people getting food. Convenience stores here sell hot food at the counter.

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Low-Picture3983@reddit

lol England is the biggest country of pissheads. Seriously haha- all the stores should be open here considering that!

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draenog_@reddit

The last time we went to a 24 hour Asda, we'd been getting ready to go to sleep when our new kitten got a bit overexcited and had a wee on the one set of clean dry bed linen we had.

...so a new duvet cover set and fitted sheet that we hadn't needed at 11pm.

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Low-Picture3983@reddit

My baby got sick last year in the middle of the night, and I had to get him baby meds etc from 24 hours Asda.

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Shitelark@reddit

Quality answer.

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Queasy-Inspector7077@reddit

I finish work anywhere between 11pm and midnight and I have to walk past what used to be a 24 hour tesco on my way home, was nice to be able to build in weekly shopping into this commute instead of having to make a specific trip

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mizcello@reddit

I used to go after work 3 - 11pm shift. Sure I could go before work, but it was just a nice convenience to go at 12am. New stock out, quiet, in my way home etc

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Shitelark@reddit

Yeah, but the bread is all behind a cage of boxes.

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boomerangchampion@reddit

Well now it's behind a locked door

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thebuttonmonkey@reddit

That's better than M&S's spittleffest.

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mebutnew@reddit

A big market was mother's of babies, awake anyway and it was quieter.

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DarkmoonBlastoise@reddit

Maybe at work until midnight

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TehDragonGuy@reddit

My first year of uni was the academic year covid started (19/20). Whenever we had a big deadline due and everyone was up doing all-nighters to finish it, a big group of us would meet up and have a "tesco sesh" at like 3am to grab a load of snacks and take a break from working. Was one of my highlights from uni tbh, and we couldn't do that anymore after first year.

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Zanki@reddit

Going to Tesco at stupid o'clock just because was so much fun at uni. It's a shame you can't do that anymore. Hell I'd do it with my friends now, but we have to be responsible.

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AcanthisittaFlaky385@reddit

I work night shifts ft and I like my lay in my bed

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bluejackmovedagain@reddit

My partner picked me up from the station after my work Christmas party, we went to buy ingredients for a fry up the next morning, and also impulse bought an artificial Christmas tree that was half price because it had a damaged box. The fry up was great, and we've used the Christmas tree every year for a decade.

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thebuttonmonkey@reddit

Jobs.

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Jaikus@reddit

Convenience

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ellisellisrocks@reddit

Give me convenience or give me death

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AnonymousTimewaster@reddit (OP)

The big ones by me all seem to go until 10pm in Manchester. Small express stores until 11pm..

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The_39th_Step@reddit

Asda by the Etihad is 24 hour on most days

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AnonymousTimewaster@reddit (OP)

That's my local one and it's definitely not. It says it is om Google (because it used to be), but I've been in there whilst they're closing down for 10pm loads of times

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The_39th_Step@reddit

Check because some days it is. It’s a weird system

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Radiant_Help_3186@reddit

That's my pet hate. When you check it says it is then you go and it isn't. Too lazy to update their opening times etc.

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Ecookie16@reddit

They close at 10pm on Saturdays due to Sunday hours laws.

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AnonymousTimewaster@reddit (OP)

They close at 10pm every day except Suneay when they shut at 4

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Ecookie16@reddit

And it closes at 5 on a Sunday you literally have no idea what you’re talking about

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IRS-BOT@reddit

So the store opens at 11am not 10am?

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Ecookie16@reddit

Yes

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Ecookie16@reddit

No it doesn’t……..

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AdBubbly3609@reddit

I think Asda is the only one that still does 24 hours.

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quiltless@reddit

The one on Wigan is still 24 hours

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ulla-bulla@reddit

I once met a northern drag queen... She had a Wigan address

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Illustrated-Society@reddit

Never know when you need an emergency pie.

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SpudFire@reddit

A wise Wiganer always keeps a pie in his hat in case of emergencies

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greenmonkeyglove@reddit

The asda by the Trafford centre is also 24 hours except on Sundays

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KeyLog256@reddit

I've just had a check around my general area, large supermarkets, not counting smaller Local/Express type ones -

Asda:

Bromborough, Ellesmere Port, Chester, Liscard, Sefton Park, Walton, Huyton, and Widnes are all 10pm/midnight closing, opening again at 6am.

Yet Runcorn and Hunt's Cross are still 24 hour.

Tesco:

None are 24 hour but I can't remember if they ever were. The massive Tesco Extra in Widnes I think is the biggest in the UK and I'm sure was 24hour for a bit, but I can't remember.

Sainsburys:

None are 24 hour but I can't remember them ever being 24 hour. Seems a bit uncouth for Sainsbury's in general!

What's odd is that Runcorn and Hunt's Cross are in/near pretty rough areas, so the theft theory doesn't stack up.

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Low-Picture3983@reddit

Runcorn Asda is now closing at 12 midnight to cut costs.

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North-West-Baby@reddit

So annoying only just found this fact out after trying to go

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Puzzleheaded-End4435@reddit

Abergele Tesco in north Wales was 24 hours pre Covid

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forgottenoldusername@reddit

So was Bangor

Distinctly remember getting pulled over on Britannia Bridge at about 3am because we decided to buy some fruit trees from Tesco after a night out.

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Patient-Benefit-3163@reddit

Walton Asda is not 24

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KeyLog256@reddit

Yes, that's what I said.

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Patient-Benefit-3163@reddit

God sorry yeah

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crb11@reddit

Sainsbury's Coldham's Lane in Cambridge was 24 hours for a period but more than 20 years ago I think. (I went there overnight when I lived nearby 1997/8.)

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PaulJMacD@reddit

Tesco Bidston used to be 24 hour... Closes at midnight now

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PalmerRabbit78@reddit

Bromborough Asda deffo used to be 24 hour pre Covid

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tcpukl@reddit

It seems like since COVID they couldn't justify going back.

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Big-Scallion3644@reddit

I miss 24 hour supermarkets too, the Tesco in my town used to be open 24 hours a day, I would go in there after a night shift and there would be a few staff stocking the shelves, get my shopping and be one of the only customers so I remember having to find someone to put my shopping through the till. I suspect that shop lifting is so bad nowadays, they would need security guards and that alone would make it unprofitable.

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fozziwoo@reddit

i guess that's the thing, if you're the only one in there... not enough to justify keeping the lights on yet alone to staff and heat the place

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totential_rigger@reddit

My understanding was that the staff would be in there anyway as the night staff were stocking shelves through the night normally. So it didn't make much difference in that regard

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citrineskye@reddit

A few weeks back in lidl, I watched someone with a wheely basket overflowing with meat just straight up walk out of the store without paying. He even stole the wheely basket! And this was like 10am. I don't think people who are going to steal care about time of day.

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addtobasket@reddit

I must be tired. I read 'wheely basket' and my first thought was...

'That's a strange thing to call a trolley' 😅

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citrineskye@reddit

Haha! No, it's a basket with wheels. Now I'm doubting myself!

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V65Pilot@reddit

Security is all over you if you try to leave with a basket at my local Lidl....

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citrineskye@reddit

There wasn't any that day. I've only seen security there on weekends. This was a midweek morning.

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NedGGGG@reddit

Probably. My local Tesco used to be 24 hour. If you wanted anything with an age restriction it always took ages because the only person who could authorise it would be out on the shop floor.

I often saw people walk out with stuff, not because they didn't want to pay, but because they couldn't be arsed to find someone to authorise their booze.

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skyban@reddit

I spoke to an acquaintance that was also a store manager for Asda a few years back, he explained that they switched from 24hrs to the 0600-2200 because loss through theft was higher than sales between 0000-0600.

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DostKen@reddit

Creatures of the night.

One of our big Tescos had to close every night at 7pm such were the levels of scrote activity.

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Striking_Smile6594@reddit

All the animals come out at night...

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KDf12002@reddit

Because the uk has a chronic laziness culture, exasperated during covid, which leaks into work performance and culture too. Whilst understandable given the whole idea of work is archaic to an extent, the amount of people who think the bare minimum is acceptable for things in this country as a general rule is just appalling. So yeah, most likely laziness as staff very likely can no longer be bothered to cover such "unsociable" times.

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Corssoff@reddit

My city's Tesco used to be 24 hours but is now 6am - midnight since Covid.

The Asda is still open 24 hours, but only Mon - Fri. It closes 10pm Sat and 4pm Sun.

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Venus_Gospel@reddit

The 4pm close time on Sundays for supermarkets these days is a killer to deal with.

Nothing more peeving than having to go to the express or local variant that’s open until 11, paying 30% extra for the same things

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Lucio88@reddit

Maybe just go at literally any other time during the week. Supermarket workers deserve Sunday rest too.

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Beartato4772@reddit

Actually go to your local big Tesco at 6pm. I guarantee you a large proportion of the staff are still there.

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Lucio88@reddit

I don't care, my point stands. Fuck.you. Go during the other 153 hours of the week

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Beartato4772@reddit

It took you 35 days to come up with that retort?

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terryjuicelawson@reddit

The silly thing is though why does it apply only to them. Not even all supermarket workers, people can be in there stocking shelves, they just can't sell anything. It can be any hours too rather than a strict close at 4, I know one that is 12-6. If it is that important then close pubs, cinemas, restaurants and everything else.

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Beartato4772@reddit

It's 6 hours between 10 and 6 I believe.

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terryjuicelawson@reddit

That makes sense, otherwise they could fiddle it so some are 10-4 and another takes over and does a 4-10 elsewhere in town. But nothing stopping all the smaller shops opening (and doing a roaring trade).

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Daveddozey@reddit

Such a ridiculous law. I do think the internet should shut down at 4pm On a Sunday too. And the electricity. And forget calling for a fire engine.

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Shoddy-Computer2377@reddit

It's a load of nonsense when everything else is open late. I can go to the cinema at 7pm, the pub at 9pm, the 24 hour gym at 1am, and the "big" supermarket still has its delivery vans on the road and making deliveries at 8pm.

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IntelligenzMachine@reddit

They can have the day off anyway lol there is nothing in principle stopping mon-fri type contracts and hours existing. If anything it makes more sense because Sunday isn’t meaningful for Muslims and Jews but Friday/Saturday are so those kind of “pick a day off” contracts would surely even work staffing wise

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Key-Fly5510@reddit

As a member of management in retail finding staff to work on a Sunday is a nightmare, I don't work in massive store but it is restricted to the 6 hour opening restrictions I have no members of staff that can't work a Sunday but unless they are rota'd into working there will always be a "reason' that they can't work that particular day if sickness cover is needed etc. I'm pretty sure most other industries would have the same issue with Sunday working. I know from a brief spell in a call centre many years ago they ran on lower staff numbers and shorter hours too.

There is also the argument for planning ahead, my local large shop opens 7am-11pm Monday to Saturday and 11-5 Sunday so 16 hours a day for 6 days and 6 hours on 1. Imo that's plenty of time through the week to get my shopping in! Yes there are items that are forgotten, issues that arise you may need some nappies or some medicine but that's what convenience stores are for. An example is today mothers day in the UK I had more people in today asking for cards etc than all week!

Also in regards to religion a department of a company I worked for there was an issue where for a certain religious holiday people wanted to have that off so people from other religious backgrounds agreed to cover (all seems ideal and inline with your point) but when the religious holidays were switched the original members of the religion that got their holiday covered would not reciprocate and cover for their colleagues causing quite the issue. Funnily enough the second religious holiday was on a Sunday

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Beartato4772@reddit

Yeah it's a law now that "helps" basically the 2 staff supervising the self checkouts at large supermarkets. The entire other staff is in the store anyway along with everyone working in every other shop.

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GastricallyStretched@reddit

The 10-4 or 11-5 opening times on Sundays are very annoying.

Sunday 5pm seems to be one of the busiest times at my local big supermarket. The tannoy goes "this store is closing in 5 minutes' time" and everyone begrudgingly starts to form a massive queue that stretches the length of the shop. Meanwhile, some people are still turning up at 4:55 to get a bit of shopping in before closing time.

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StereotypicallBarbie@reddit

The Asda local to me is still open 24 hours. I love doing an in person shop after midnight when there’s no one else in there! Only downfall is that it’s all self serve.. so you can’t do a big shop unless you wanted to be stood at the self cash out for an hour and wait for an assistant every time it says “unexpected item in the bagging area”

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HistoricalPickle@reddit

Sign up to scan and go and grab a handset, scan on the way round. Unless they disable those at night?

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Shoddy-Computer2377@reddit

At Sainsbury's, what inevitably happens is that it craps itself and demands a re-scan of some arbitrary number like 17 items. You then have to find someone on duty to rake through your carefully packed bags as you stand there utterly embarrassed and fed up.

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StereotypicallBarbie@reddit

Yeah see this comment is exactly why I don’t fancy using it… I already get irrational rage at the self checkout when something doesn’t scan!

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Kitchen-Peanut518@reddit

It's really not that bad. It's very occasionally and usually only like 5 items, maybe 10. Although possibly it does happen more often if you get caught out not scanning things.

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StereotypicallBarbie@reddit

I feel like I’ve reached the age in life where I’ve turned into my mother and I’m scared of technology I’ve never used before… I’ve only just got to grips with confidently using Apple Pay!

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fiery-sparkles@reddit

Haha I'm the same, my daughter fits at me when I try to use Apple Pay. Scan and go is disabled at night but you can still use it from your phone. You then go to a regular tip point and scan the QR code on screen and it'll upload all of your shopping that you've scanned.

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Shoddy-Computer2377@reddit

I've used that app before at Sainsbury's. It works alright I guess, but the shopping list feature was rubbish.

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fiery-sparkles@reddit

I don't think the Asda app has the shopping list feature? To be honest I've never used the shopping list in Sainsbury's either, I just have it in notes on my phone. It would be too complicated for me otherwise.

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StereotypicallBarbie@reddit

I’ve only been using Apple Pay in shops because my son shamed me into it.. I still used my debit card up until about a year and a half ago!

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Beartato4772@reddit

Do it, you'll never go back.

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thebuttonmonkey@reddit

I was full on in on the 'Apple Pay, one tap on my watch for an Uber' culture before I moved to the sticks 6 years ago. Yocals here - unironically - called me a witch for paying with my watch. They're barely nauseous at it now, you'll be fine.

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CyGuy6587@reddit

Yeah they disable Scan & Go at night

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Ok_Situation_1525@reddit

Since covid everything has gone up in price. Energy bills, staff, food itself. Probably no longer viable and probably not used much by customers. Think a lot have maybe gone to 6-midnight

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BarnabyBundlesnatch@reddit

Shelf stackers are in there anyway. Everything is still on, including the self service tills. Theres really no reason at all not to still have them open 24hours.

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hampa9@reddit

At my local Asda they restock in the middle of the day. Generally at whatever particular time of day I visit, at precisely the shelf that holds the most important item I had wanted to buy.

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Kitchen-Peanut518@reddit

They probably do restock at night too. We have both and sometimes even a third rework in the evening. Some stock just sells through that quickly, especially since you have both online and customers competing.

I understand it's annoying for the customers but...it does make me roll my eyes sometimes when I hear one saying "why don't they just do this when the shop is closed?" But you know if we did that and then all the shelves were empty by noon, they'd be complaining too. I mean, some really popular items are already empty by 7am when I start my shift because of online.

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Ok_Situation_1525@reddit

As someone who works in retail (although not in a supermarket) one of the good things about night shifts is no customers, partly becuase they’re not going to bother you but also it’s just a nicer environment in that you can play your own music, chat to each other, have food or drink on the shop floor and make a mess which makes working quicker I.e. throwing empty cardboard boxes on the floor and clearing them all up at the end. If I had worked in a supermarket doing shelf stacking nightshift and my store went from 24 hour opening to non 24 hour opening meaning there were no customers during my shift I’d be pretty pleased

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Shoddy-Computer2377@reddit

My Sainsbury's shuts at 11pm. If you go in there after 8pm you're tripping over restocking cages, half the aisles are impassible and it feels like you're disturbing them.

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Beartato4772@reddit

Yeah, same with piles of gigantic home shopping trolleys, supermarkets now feel like industrial warehouses they grudgingly let you in sometimes.

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mycatiscalledFrodo@reddit

Nothing more annoying than someone vacuuming at 3pm whilst you are trying to make a call, or coming to "clean" your desk whilst you are in the middle of something

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lost_send_berries@reddit

It's much faster to restock if you know there aren't going to be any customers/anybody else wandering into your aisle.

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sobrique@reddit

You don't need as many staff on the night shift though. In particular security, if that's a problem in the area.

I assume in a lot of cases it's down to economics - they counted fingers on the (slightly) increased costs of staying open, vs. the money they made, and shrugged and called it 'not worth it'.

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Stoby_200@reddit

As someone who did shelf stacking I didn't want customers bimbling around when I had targets to meet.

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stuaxo@reddit

I'm sure they would be profitable, it's only not viable because the amount of profits demanded are much higher now, we are fully into the enshittification phase across all larger businesses.

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Profleroy@reddit

A lot of Walmart super stores used to be open all night. I haven't seen one do that in ages.

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glasgowgeg@reddit

There's no Walmart super stores in the UK, so I'm not surprised you haven't seen one in ages.

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Profleroy@reddit

I live in the US, God help me. We don't have much in the way of 24 hour service any more either, anywhere. All we have is a barrage of shitshow 24/7.

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DrHydeous@reddit

Lots of people who would have otherwise shopped late at night switched to shopping online and having their stuff delivered late at night instead. And for those who "needed" booze or fags or munchies late at night, services like Uber Eats and Just Eat will deliver that sort of thing, and there are also services like Getir, Gopuff etc

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nousernameleftatall@reddit

Live near Gatwick, Tesco still 24 hours

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Remote-Pool7787@reddit

That’s probably due to airport staff and the shifts they work. Very few 24 hour big tescos left (plenty Tesco express are)

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Remote-Pool7787@reddit

Asda’s largest stores are still mostly 24 hours but all the Tescos that were 24 hours seem to be 6am to midnight now

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cz78_wwe@reddit

I don’t really look at SuperMarket opening times, but I mean let’s say my local Tesco was open 24 hours, who would run down to Tesco at 2am? Probably no one, or 3-4 people late night (1-3am). If only 3-4 people come to your shop then there’s not really any point in opening is there really.

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Narrow-Host8512@reddit

Late night places in general are disappearing 😔

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UnbelievableFreedom@reddit

ASDA in Ayr is open 24hrs.

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ingutek@reddit

bit scary at certain times but

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Acrobatic-Ad584@reddit

They banned pyjamas

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Berookes@reddit

Just come back from Japan and they put us to shame in regards to 24/7 supermarkets. Literally a 24/7 Lawson, 711 or Familymart on every street corner. No matter what time of night If you need a bite to eat or a drink you’re covered. Here we have fuck all choice post midnight

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freexe@reddit

People have to work those shifts so I don't think it's something to be proud of. I'd much prefer people work sensible hours where possible

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wildOldcheesecake@reddit

Working such shifts not something to be proud of ey? Well I hope you never get ill and suddenly need to go to the hospital. You can wait till “sensible hours.” You might be dead by that time but you can’t have your cake and eat it too

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freexe@reddit

"where possible"

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wildOldcheesecake@reddit

My point still stands.

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freexe@reddit

No it doesn't. A supermarket not being open 24 hours isn't going to kill you

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wildOldcheesecake@reddit

You said it’s not something to be proud of. You can fuck right off with that. At least they’re working.

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autobulb@reddit

Some people prefer working night shifts. They are usually much quieter so you can just focus on stocking or whatever else you need to do with less interaction. They also pay better which is a nice bonus if you are a night owl.

I don't think there's anything to be ashamed about a vibrant nightlife which requires people to be working to provide those services. When I lived in Japan I loved staying out all night bar hopping. Made friends with the bartenders that worked those shifts, some of them start their shift at midnight, and they are not forced into it or dislike the lifestyle.

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Adventurous-Bet9747@reddit

Nightshifts at supermarket exist without the shops being open 24hrs (because the shops need to be restocked for the next morning)

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autobulb@reddit

Yep. As a customer I quite like the convenience of having the shop always open even if the worker is somewhere in the aisle or in the back restocking stuff. They usually put a little bell at the till and you can ring them when you want to buy your stuff.

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cnstnsr@reddit

Literally the same here - got back from Japan this weekend and I am going to be absolutely insufferable about all the things that are leagues better in Japan, including the convenience stores. They are actually convenient. It was a serious reality check about how dire things are, across all of society, in the UK. We are fucked.

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Berookes@reddit

I would move there in a heartbeat if I could learn Japanese

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cnstnsr@reddit

I'm with you, brother. The post-trip depression has never hit harder. I'm already planning for a future visit.

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Berookes@reddit

Same I’ll be going back again next year for sure

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Manifestival1@reddit

I enjoyed the novelty of that when I visited Tokyo - especially as my sleep pattern was out of whack and never adjusted. Restaurants open 24 hours even.

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Dangerous_Dac@reddit

Combini culture is something I desperately wish we had the mentality for here, but you know they'd end up with staff getting harrassed, huge amounts of theft, and general bulllshit of UK night culture. Even though an open Conbini should in and of itself be a beacon of night culture. We're just not built for that in this country. Not the least of which, most towns could only realistically hope to have one or two built in central areas, so you're not getting the convenience of them, and foot traffic in this country is generally piss poor.

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strolls@reddit

Combini culture

I suspect this is down to urban planning - they can support these convenience store / supermarkets, because they have high densities of residential and commercial building, and it just wouldn't work if there wasn't both daytime and evening trade.

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autobulb@reddit

Nope, they exist out in rural areas too. There might just be one or two for the whole town and you might have to drive a few minutes but that's just the case for anything in rural Japan. You still see 1-2 staff working the overnight shift out in the middle of nowhere.

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callisstaa@reddit

A lot of Asian urban planning is built around multi purpose complexes. You'll have a big shopping centre with a few residential towers and clinics, schools, police and other services on the ground floor. I guess it is like '15 minute cities' but more like '5 minute cities'

It works well in

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Berookes@reddit

They’d be a state in the UK because sadly we have a lot of horrible pricks in our society that would ruin it for the rest of us

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Shoddy-Computer2377@reddit

This is why McDonald's don't serve alcohol in this country.

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DeinOnkelFred@reddit

You can walk into a movie theatre in Amsterdam and buy a beer. And I don't mean just like in no paper cup. I'm talking about a glass of beer.

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azlan121@reddit

you can in plenty of cinemas here too, even get full meals delivered to your seat in some places!

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OK_TimeForPlan_L@reddit

You can do that in the UK as well in quite a few cinemas.

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Kolo_ToureHH@reddit

I'm talking about a glass of beer.

I can do that in all the movie theatres up here in Glasgow.

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Leg-Pretend@reddit

To be fair there are quite a few cinemas in the UK now where you can drink alcohol in glasses while you watch the film.

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Gutternips@reddit

A lot cinemas in the UK allow this. The Light, Curzon and Cineworld all do which is pretty much all the cinemas within driving distance of where I live.

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InZim@reddit

Most cinemas (movie theatre wtf) I've been to in the UK sell beer in bottles or glasses

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StNeotsCitizen@reddit

And in Paris, you can buy a beer in McDonalds. Hey, you know what they call a quarter pounder with cheese in Paris?

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AEL1979@reddit

A ROYALE WITH CHEESE

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comrademikey@reddit

What do they call a Whopper?

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Zealousideal-Habit82@reddit

I'm moving to Amsterdam!

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Cogz@reddit

Years and years ago, I arrived at Athens by train at about 4 in the morning. The Dutch girl I was with said 'Let's go get a beer.' 'Will anywhere be open at this time of the morning?' 'Eh, we'll just go to McDonalds.' 'McDonalds sell beer?!?'

Half an hour later, I was sitting at Syntagma Square drinking beer outside Mcdonalds and chatting with people on the next table.

At the time I was thinking, 'This is pretty chilled, if this was the UK, there'd be people shouting, blokes pushing each other around trying to start a fight and police vans everywhere.'

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apeliott@reddit

Conbini culture is severely under threat recently.

They are really struggling to find staff and still be profitable. I've seen several close down. A lot of the staff are now foreigners who I assume are on student visas. I've also read stories about conbinis being staffed with only one person, sometimes just the owner. There are also stories about them switching to self-service or even remote workers.

And harassment from customers is unfortunately increasing. Several local governments have announced plans to tackle it.

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callisstaa@reddit

Kombinis here in China are popular night life spots. Most of them will have a seating area outside and people will just buy beers and sit outside drinking and playing cards.

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Educational_Ad2737@reddit

Honestly i genuinely feel sorry for the late night staff at my local bp and its very nice posh area . Lots of obvious on drunk driving idiots

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Shoddy-Computer2377@reddit

My dad went to university with a guy who had a summer job working nights at a petrol station in the 1970s.

One night, a woman drives some very nice car (possibly a Jaaaag) onto the forecourt and crashes into his booth. She was panicking because it was her husband's car and he didn't know she was out.

He suspects she was maybe playing away from home.

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Kaiisim@reddit

Because they don't care some poor sod has to work 10-6am every day, selling cigarettes and red bull.

British people get too aggressive as well.

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callisstaa@reddit

It's the same here in China. There are 2 Familymarts, a Lawson and a Kingston within easy walking dstance and they are all 24 hours. People here will often buy beers or baiju and just sit out the front and drink with their friends at night. I imagine here cigarette sales alone are worth the cost of staying open all night.

Also bars here close at 2 officially but most will stay open until after 4. People like to buy smokes or hydration drinks on their way home from a night out or more beer to keep the party going.

Kombinis here also sell a decent range of hot food at the counter 24/7 so people will go to grab a late night snack. I've often staggered home at 3am and seen a good few people in and around the 24 hour stores.

Another thing to consider is that Asia in general doesn't really have an anti social behaviour issue in the same sense that the UK does.

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iwanttobeacavediver@reddit

I'm in Vietnam and it's more or less the same here. Students like the convenience stores for working on homework, meeting friends and getting some cheap noodles/fried chicken or milk tea. During the evening and night people will often come from a night out to get food or cigarettes or a coffee, or to buy alcohol to take home and drink there. Not to mention that people can be going to work super early (some places like markets open at 4am!) so they want to buy meals or noodle pots or drinks for that.

Another thing to consider is that Asia in general doesn't really have an anti social behaviour issue in the same sense that the UK does.

Yep, totally agreed. Even when I've been in central city districts here, it's rare to unheard of for there to be any problems with people's behaviour, and I've felt perfectly safe even at stupid times of the morning going out and even walking across the city.

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iwanttobeacavediver@reddit

I'm in Vietnam. There's a 7-11, Circle K, B's Mart and a Famiymart within 5min of my house, all 24/7. Even during Covid, they were some of the only places still running. Generally though they're popular and used by most people, and there's even options at a hot counter, prepared meals and coffee to order. You often see students from the local high schools or universities meeting friends at these places as they're cheap and easy to find. The seating areas usually provide hot water, chopsticks/spoons, straws and other things for people too.

Not to mention if you've had a few too many and it's now 3am, it's a good place to get a noodle bowl and a coffee and sober up.

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apeliott@reddit

There's about 10 different convenience stores within a 15-minute walk from my house, but I wouldn't compare them to proper supermarkets which are usually much cheaper.

There are about five supermarkets within 15 minutes walk but unfortunately none of them are 24-hour. I don't think I've ever seen a proper 24-hour supermarket here.

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AlpineJ0e@reddit

My Asda is still open 24 hours. Maybe they decided which ones to close at 10pm based on overnight usage?

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caniuserealname@reddit

Same here. It was the only 24 hour supermarket in my area before covid and it still is afterwards. Covid literally changed nothing about any of the opening hours of any supermarkets near me.

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Beartato4772@reddit

I only know figures from Tesco and their number of 24 hours ones declined by 90% so yep, there's some.

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niallniallniall@reddit

Yeah there's multiple 24hr ASDAs in Glasgow. Lifesaver as a nightshift worker.

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blozzerg@reddit

My local one closed due to anti social behaviour, it’s only just reopened as 24 hour but it’s been remodelled at the entrance so now only one door opens at night and there’s several barriers to get in/out.

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Jlfitze@reddit

Probably loads of shoplifting during the night

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Sharp-kun@reddit

24 hour Asda here

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LimeInternational856@reddit

There's a couple of Asda's near me that are still 24 hour but all of the formerly 24 hour Tesco stores have went to 6am- 12am.

A couple of the Asda stores are 24/7 except Christmas and new year (this is Scotland where there no restrictions on a Sunday) and others close for a few hours overnight a few days a week.

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piper_perri_vs_5guys@reddit

Asda is still 24 hours

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I_really_love_pugs@reddit

Some still exist, just not as many. I wonder if more people got into delivery groceries in lockdown and this impacted footfall?

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JamesTiberious@reddit

Lockdown grocery deliveries were the final straw for grocery deliveries for me. Never again.

I got so sick of getting the short life fresh goods that they want rid of and the worst quality produce thats been kicked around the warehouse and/or turns mouldy the next day.

Since covid and as a direct result of profiteering/greed by supermarkets (and their CEOs), I only shop in store so I can choose the quality/shelf life (to some degree) and get discount schemes.

Pile on top of that, instead of letting customers buy yellow label/going out of date food for 1/10th normal price, they give it all away before customers can buy it.

So TLDR - No need for them to be 24/7 now because we’re all forced into getting cheapest stuff above convenience.

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Hungry-Falcon3005@reddit

The produce is never picked from the warehouse. It’s always the front of the shop and you must get bad pickers because they must pick the longer dates

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Royal-Jackfruit-2556@reddit

Imagine most workers just pick stuff from the front trying to get jobs done fast.

Remember when restocking they put the new fresh stuff at the back. Always reach the furthest back for the fresher stuff.

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Ok_Resident3556@reddit

Yes, I don’t think the pickers care enough to try and pick stuff out, either way. They won’t be picking the nicest looking joint of meat like you probably would if you went yourself, but neither will they be looking for the worst looking one to get rid of it. I’m sure they just grab whatever is on the top/at the front and move on.

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Grimdotdotdot@reddit

Ocado disagrees 😉

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RisKQuay@reddit

Depends on the shop I guess - our local big delivery Tesco has a massive warehouse with semi-automated picking shelves.

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peachesnplumsmf@reddit

Curious as to which shop? I was a picker at ASDA whilst at Uni, 2021/22, and the rules were fairly strict about what we could give? Had to be at least 3 days on it, if it was a choice between something with 2 days or nothing at all it would be up to the manager and at my shop 8/10 times they'd be given a substitute that was in date.

It was never hand picking what we wanted rid of, didn't have time for that. You'd go to the item it wanted, look for a good date and good size (for fruit/veg,) then put it away and hurry to the next one as it would time you on how long you took for each item. Even when we did have to go into the warehouse, that would mean the customer was getting the freshest items before they'd even hit the shelf or the stuff from the previous delivery still waiting to be put out.

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frymaster@reddit

my local ASDA has always been really good for deliveries - not sure how much of it is corporate policy and how much is local management but dates tend to be good and replacements were always thoughtful and made sense (I don't always accept the replacements, but they are always reasonable)

[-]

Simbooptendo@reddit

It depends on the individual picking the item, never the store wanting to get rid of the short life stuff. And sometimes all the dates just suck.

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Difficult_Cap_4099@reddit

I got so sick of getting the short life fresh goods that they want rid of and the worst quality produce thats been kicked around the warehouse and/or turns mouldy the next day.

This is a problem with their business model… they want to monetise their stores further (rather than a distribution center) and the people picking stuff don’t give two shits about what they pick up from the supermarket.

So your vegetables arrive, get taken to a large distribution center for stores, then get processed, split and sent to individual stores. Then at the store they get put on display and is luck of the draw if you order inline with their schedule. This adds days to your order already… then it’s the added delay of getting it to you.

Then you have companies like Ocado (and Morrisons) that receive stuff and start distributing to customers as soon as possible, so days are saved in this process compared to the normal supermarkets.

I don’t work for Ocado, but did for 3 weeks and it’s one of their strengths.

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GlynPardoe@reddit

This seemed to follow on from Covid. Everything was 24 hours, then Covid struck and the reopening seemed to give the supermarkets the opportunity to revisit the opening hours arms race, and they settled for a more sensible offer thereafter.

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TooRedditFamous@reddit

It's not profitable to be open at 3am. Sure it was maybe the case before covid but if every superstore is open at 3am apart from yours you end up going to another at that time, then that becomes your main supermarket. It's like supermarket deliveries. Not profitable but you don't want to be the one that doesn't offer it. Covid was a convenient excuse for them all to end it at the same time and nobody lose out

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PRAWNBOY9@reddit

Wouldn’t be surprised if they were open 24h to try and match competitors and no reason to do it if no one’s open

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Broccoli--Enthusiast@reddit

Covid

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Intruder313@reddit

There's still a 24H Tesco I can reach but I've made use of it 3x ever. I liked the quiet but not the zombies shopping in their PJ's.

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Notagelding@reddit

They haven't all disappeared!

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hitiv@reddit

this is probably the worst thing that happened due to covid (obvs excluding deaths) as i loved going to tesco late at night

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TheAdamena@reddit

Huh, didn't know we had any. Never been one near where I've lived.

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suckitdavidcameron@reddit

There are still a couple of 24hr ASDAs in Glasgow. No idea about any others tbh. It's been a while since I worked night shift so I've little need for them now.

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glasgowgeg@reddit

No idea why you've been downvoted for this.

The ASDAs at Robroyston, Govan, Toryglen, and Blantyre are all 24/7.

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suckitdavidcameron@reddit

Probably just people being dicks 😂

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GirthyPigeon@reddit

I think what happened is they can't get the staff to work those hours any more.

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glasgowgeg@reddit

The staff still work those hours though, they're just restocking without interruption from customers.

I see staff in my local Tesco Extra between midnight-6am when they're closed.

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DigitalPiggie@reddit

"what happened to 24 hour supermarkets" say a group of people that rarely ever go to supermarkets at 3am

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mushybees83@reddit

I'm glad 24hr supermarkets were about when my kids were small. I made many a 3am visit for Calpol, Ashton and parsons powders or bepanthen cream. Sometimes the baby is just upset and we'd try (and buy) anything in that moment to settle them.

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levinyl@reddit

I used to love going to a store at about 1am - So quiet was lovely

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Opening-Market-6488@reddit

I miss 24 hour supermarkets, so peaceful going in the middle of the night

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RowRow1990@reddit

My big Asda is still a 24 hour one thankfully. It changed briefly, but soon went back.

Another one that's half hour in the opposite direction changed and never went back

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probablyaythrowaway@reddit

Covid hold over. Probably saved them money

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Milam1996@reddit

They were never really profitable or worth being open and it would piss off the night staff whilst they were busy restocking. Covid was a good excuse to change it and now we’ve all adapted so there’s no incentive. No supermarket wanted to be the first to no longer do it but now Covid was the excuse

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Ultimate_os@reddit

They seem to do more restocking in the daytime now.

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fussyfella@reddit

When the number of customers is fewer than the number of people needed to keep the store open, it is a business no brainer - and that was the case for an awful lot of the 24 hour supermarkets (and that is before you factor in things like energy costs and insurance).

It is a real pain for those who do want to shop in the early hours but I get it from the company viewpoint.

Now personally what throws me when in England is the Sunday trading rules. In Scotland it is just another day and I seem to often be caught out wanting to get something on a Sunday evening and there is almost nowhere open.

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frymaster@reddit

the supermarket that was 24 hours pre-covid closest to me in Edinburgh is currently 24 hour. I don't know if they had different opening hours during lockdown, but they're certainly back to 24/7 now

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Simbooptendo@reddit

My local Asda is, for 4 nights a week. I'd go there at night but I don't drive and I'm scared I'll get bummed whilst walking there.

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LegendJG@reddit

I feel like this is a part of the ‘shrinkflation’ epidemic. There used to be lots of 24 hour supermarkets and petrol stations. Presumably, keeping a supermarket open overnight is not particularly profitable - but provides a lot of convenience. So the price of keeping the shop open 24 hours a day was baked into prices. Then, they return to normal opening hours… but prices stay the same.

A lot of them still have signs to indicate 24 hours a day and haven’t updated their opening times online etc.

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stercus_uk@reddit

For the most part they cost far more in staff and theft than they took in sales.

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KingPing43@reddit

There’s a 24 hour Budgens (of all places!) near me

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Bottled_Void@reddit

Rampant Shoplifting

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Desperate-Tomato902@reddit

It’s not really necessary with a small amount of planning ahead so maybe just not worth the cost for them?

Plus it sucks people having to work that overnight shift on low wages

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Nolascana@reddit

In Scotland 24hrs means 24hrs...

No wonder our store went from 6am-midnight, we didn't have the footfall. We're a passing trade store mostly, only after we had reduced hours did the other stores open on the site. We could open later, in theory, but, anyone that CAN get to us drives so it's a stones throw to the larger 24hr store.

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connorkenway198@reddit

The only reason businesses do anything is profit

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theremint@reddit

COVID

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Underwritingking@reddit

Circumstances and shopping behaviours/patterns can change over time, but you're right with the bottom line - if it's not profitable enough they won't do it.

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Fit_Balance8329@reddit

The Asda in my city is one of the top biggest Asdas in the UK, and it was the only place in the area that was 24 hour. Last year they stopped doing that.

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Zubi_Q@reddit

Died after covid and the supermarkets don't want to pay more money to the staff

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ninjabadmann@reddit

I think home delivery made up for it. Covid seems to be when both 24hr and delivery became a thing.

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HelloW0rldBye@reddit

Planet rock baby 🤘

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Ok_Journalist_2303@reddit

The number of shoppers at night make it unprofitable not to close after a certain time.

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Hot_Guard7840@reddit

Dad worked night shift most of my time growing up. It’s not profitable. Needs more staff in the building and slows down filling the shelves. All that for maybe five people that would probably come the other times anyway.

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le7meshowyou@reddit

I think these went the same way as ‘Fast’ food and mainly died off with covid

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Cute-Elk20@reddit

I remember years ago between 2007-2009 we went to one of the 24hr Tesco's in the region at 2 in the morning to do a big shop. I remember being forced to use the self checkout which my parents weren't to sure about. Every time we scanned something there's be an issue and in the end the colleague begrudgingly ended up opening the checkouts for us.

I think COVID-19 has changed things massively and think it will take a fair bit of time before things go back to how they were.

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Aggravating_Elk_4299@reddit

I know the Tesco I worked at stopped being a 24hr a few years before Covid (meant I couldn’t get a meal deal before work for breakfast). Covid might have been the death kneel but it was happening before hand.

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CalmStomach3@reddit

I'm guessing because more shoplifting, only the Asda near me is 24/7 which as a shift worker is great, you have to dodge through pallets and cages but I appreciate it, the morrison's next door to me isn't ever officially 24/7 but because they have some amazon hub, people just go shopping all night anyway, they only turn people away on sundays because they have to

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ddoogg88tdog@reddit

From what i heard from my old colleagues it was because you had the more undesirable customers come in more often

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bahumat42@reddit

I have to imagine that not enough people were shopping to make it worth it.

And I get it, I miss them too. Doing a 3 AM shop was sometimes a great way to spend a sleepless night.

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Anothercrazyoldwoman@reddit

When 24 hour supermarkets first started the supermarkets were trying to pull a fast one.

They never thought they’d get a huge volume of shoppers during the night. They’d get a few night-time shoppers but everything those people spent would be pure profit because there would be no staffing costs.

Night-time shelf stackers would be working in the store anyway and were already paid. Night-time shoppers would self check-out and there would be no customer services open.

Supermarket management thought it would be on a very rare occasion that a night-time shopper would need any assistance/attention from a member of staff.

It didn’t work out that way. A lot of the night-time shoppers were far from ideal customers who would require no attention from staff. Lots of drunk people who couldn’t find anything and kept asking the shelf stackers for help or tripping over cages and packaging in the aisles; people with mental health issues aimlessly wandering around picking up items and then putting them down in a different aisle before wandering out without actually buying anything; way too many people needing staff help to work the self checkout or getting annoyed by problems with the self check-out and no staff around to help; homeless people wanting somewhere to hang-out and get warm ….

Result of all this was that shelf stackers were able to do half of the re-stocking they’d done previously. Additional staffing was needed.

From the early days of all night shopping supermarket management realised it wasn’t working out as intended but they felt stuck in the situation. Reduction in the opening hours was a bad news story, especially if your rival supermarkets were still continuing to open 24 hours a day. The Covid 19 lockdowns simply gave supermarkets the good excuse they’d been looking for to get rid of the unprofitable night-time shopping experiment.

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joshuagordon99@reddit

I'm so glad I was able to have this when I was at university 10 years ago, The Tesco Extra in Loughborough was like the best thing ever amidst the quietness and cold of 2am in the morning, I miss those times a lot!

As others have said, there's people working in the stores through the night still so I wish they brought this back, but I can understand why it's generally no longer a thing.

Doing my weekly shop on Saturdays at 6am works for me, not busy at all and there's fresh bakery produce which you wouldn't get through the night when it was 24 hours.

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revpidgeon@reddit

They realised that they aren't worth it. Plus rise in shoplifting and crime.

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oh_no3000@reddit

Because at night they're filling online orders. COVID also changed the way supermarkets operate.

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quarterpastfour@reddit

I miss it. I used to love popping into Tesco after 11pm to grab a pizza, it had a certain post-apocalyptic edge to it. There'd be no other customers, cages and boxes strewn everywhere, banging dance music over the speakers, staff stacking shelves whilst openly slagging off the management who went home four hours ago... It was the total opposite of daytime Tesco - I felt like I was inconveniencing them by just being there, invading their nocturnal world. It was oddly thrilling.

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Vivelesinge@reddit

I once saw two twins in suits buy dozens of pineapples from the Tesco in Hackney at 3am on a Saturday night. It has lived with me to this day and I am glad I got to witness it due to 24 hour supermarkets.

Why were they even that many pineapples in stock? This was a decade ago and it haunts me still.

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GhostMassage@reddit

I work night shift, I'm very glad we're not open 24/7.

Even the 2 hours of my shift we are still open I still get dickheads.

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RTB897@reddit

I thought you said it was open 24 hours a day?

Yeah, but not at night....

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Shoddy-Computer2377@reddit

I remember back in 2009 living near a Tesco Extra which did indeed close each week. Something daft like 1am to 6:30am on a Tuesday from what I recall.

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Dangerous_Dac@reddit

If my Tesco that's sat on the edge of the M25 isn't opening 24 hours anymore just where the hell are they opening 24 hours? I miss it too.

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justinsain18@reddit

Watford?

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Dangerous_Dac@reddit

Thurrock.

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Firthy2002@reddit

Nearest Tesco is 6am-midnight but was a 24 hour store prior to Covid.

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Educational_Ad2737@reddit

Min went from 24 hours to midnight a few years before Covid but the thing that reeally destroyed it was closing the upstairs at 9pm so now acces to anything non food and all electronics have been removed from the store full stop

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Cold_Dawn95@reddit

Three factors I reckon:

1) Tesco had 24 hour opening just to compete with Asda, in COVID due to staff and even product shortages they cut their hours and had stronger financial performance (people had more cash and less places to spend it) 2) The increase in minimum wage, energy costs and other increased costs meant low sales nights were now very unprofitable 3) The customers who came often bought little to nothing, and were the rougher types who caused problems (drunk/high etc) and shoplifting was likely higher, again for few sales.

It is amazing it lasted as long as it did, though apparently Tesco were already cutting 24 hour supermarkets as far back as 2016 according to Google, but I guess COVID was the trigger ...

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Educational_Ad2737@reddit

Everything is genuinely getting worse . Honestly the only thing to ahve improved in this country in the last ten years is WiFi and data coverage

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Cal550@reddit

Yep, the two 24HR Tescos in Inverness never kept going after Covid, both now 6AM-Midnight, luckily ASDA is still 24HR which helps when coming off nightshift at 5AM 😌

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dazed1984@reddit

Rubbish isn’t it. Working shift work it was really useful and I used to do a fair bit of shopping in the middle of the night.

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Jazs1994@reddit

Because they stopped paying their night staff a good premium over minimum wage so people stopped working those hours. All part of their plan

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Opening_Cut_6379@reddit

A few years ago I walked home from a late night party because I'd had a few drinks and couldn't afford a taxi. I stopped in the all night Tesco and bought a bottle of Lucozade. The cashier looked at me like I was barmy – "what are they doing buying Lucozade when everyone else is buying vodka and fags"

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Tonythepillow@reddit

The focus is on profit. They didn’t make much profit overnight and I guess they’re not prepared to pay staff a decent rate to do the overnight shifts so it’s easier to just close.

I think many still have staff in overnight dealing with stock but no pesky customers getting in the way.

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iptrainee@reddit

They do exist but are rarer. Late night shopping has been partially replaced by online.

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