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Letter to Editor
ShareExtended shopping hours irk mall staff
By Ashley Joannou - Red Deer Advocate
Published: August 12, 2008 6:54 AM
Being able to shop until you drop may seem like a good idea, but some staff at the Bower Place Shopping Centre say longer hours will stretch them too far.
More than 300 staff and customers have signed a petition asking the mall it adjust its plan for a new Saturday closing time.
As of Aug. 16, the mall will be open until 9 p.m. on Saturdays, three hours later than before.
“We’re not asking them to get rid of it completely,” said Nicole Raffa, an employee at Gord’s Smoke Shop. “We want it to be optional to stay open late because some places can’t afford that.”
Raffa said staffing shortages at some stores mean staff are already working a lot of overtime.
“I know some places, like the smaller kiosks, have staff that work almost 12 hours a day.” she said. “Extend that to six days a week and that’s just too much.”
The 24-year-old, who has worked at the mall for the last eight years, said Saturday evenings are generally not busy.
“As it is, for the last hour or so it’s pretty much dead,” she said.
Dan Hachey, manager of Parkland Mall, said Parkland has no plans to follow Bower Place’s lead.
“We do extend our hours for the five or six Saturdays leading up to Christmas,” he said. “But even then, most of those are relatively quiet compared to other days.”
With the Alberta economy and how difficult it is to recruit people, that’s not something we are prepared to do,” he said.
Raffa said she plans to present her petition to the mall’s administration soon.
“We don’t mind working hard but we like to spend time with our family and friends too,” she said.
A call to the Bower Place Shopping Centre administration was not returned.
Please see related letter.
Contact Ashley Joannou at ajoannou@reddeeradvocate.com
