Antwerp looks to open shops on Sundays

The shops in Antwerp’s historic centre could be open seven days a week from the latter-half of next year, following the city council’s decision to apply to the Flemish government to have the centre recognised as a tourist zone.

That would allow shops to be open on Sundays, as is already the case in towns along the Flemish coast, as well as in Bruges and Maasmechelen. Antwerp is the first of several cities heading down the same road, with Kortrijk and Ghent thought to be contemplating the same move. Shopkeepers are concerned at the competition they face from e-commerce and are looking for ways to increase revenue.

The city justifies the move by the need to attract new visitors, from elsewhere in Belgium but especially from other countries – and in particular the Netherlands. Maastricht shops open on Sundays once a month, attracting shoppers from Germany and Belgium.

Unizo, the organisation that represents small-business owners in Flanders, said that shops should only be open on Sundays if efforts are made to attract new shoppers from outside the region. “A euro can only be spent once, and if you spread the same spending over seven days instead of six, it doesn’t do anyone any good,” commented Peter Aerts of Unizo Antwerp.

Unizo director-general Karel Van Eetvelt said he was resigned to Sunday opening hours but would fight a move to a seven-day working culture. “The self-employed already work six days a week, more than eight hours a day,” he said. “I think they also deserve the chance to spend a day with their families, or just relax a little.”

The Christian trade union representing shop staff said it was not against Sunday hours in principle, as long as staff were properly compensated. “That’s where the problems arise,” said Chris Van Droogenbroeck of the union LBC. “There is no legal framework for tourist zones, and the majority of workers are paid as if Sunday were an ordinary working day.”

Following the procedures for recognition as a tourist zone, the earliest that shops would be allowed to open on Sundays would be the autumn of next year.