Sunday shopping in NRW - a never-ending dispute

Sunday enjoys a special status in Germany. Together with state-recognized public holidays, it is even protected by the Basic Law as a day of "rest from work and spiritual uplifting".

In contrast to the emotional uplift, local politicians, retailers, trade unions and courts have been fighting over Sundays in North Rhine-Westphalia for years. Namely the shopping Sunday. Fighting is with serious allegations. The Verdi union is regularly accused of being a blockade. The representatives of salespeople in retail only insist that the laws are observed.

Current example: Verdi and the mayor of the city of Porta Westfalica in East Westphalia are now in their third legal dispute this year. At the beginning of 2022, the Higher Administrative Court (OVG) for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia stopped Sunday shopping in the city in the Minden-Lübbecke district. In October, the city council with Mayor Anke Grotjohann (Greens) fails again with a regulation.

The Sunday shopping around a large furniture store was designed in such a way that the judges in Münster again showed the project the red card. The search for the largest children's choir in North Rhine-Westphalia seemed too far-fetched. On November 6, the mayor now wants to offer a so-called blue light mile. On the shopping Sunday, rescue services, fire brigade and Co. should present themselves.

Irony of history: In 2020, the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig set high hurdles in a landmark judgment on the blue light mile in Mönchengladbach. The planned event must clearly characterize the day and must not be an appendage to the desired Sunday opening. The municipalities have to prove that a festival or market attracts more visitors than the Sunday opening without the event. Example: A traditional fair has been attracting many visitors to the city on a specific date for many years. The additional shopping Sunday would then not be a problem.

In the case of the Porta Westfalica blue-light mile, the Verdi union pointed out to the Green politician weeks ago that Sunday shopping was not a good idea. "We were involved early on," said union secretary Ursula Jacob-Reisinger. It didn't help. When politicians did not react after the second defeat in front of the OVG, Verdi called the judges in Münster again on October 25th. A request from the German Press Agency on October 21st was only answered by the mayor on October 26th. With reference to the procedure that has been pending for a day, she no longer wanted to comment.

The OVG has given the same advice over and over again for years. As early as September 2020, the court had written in a statement: "The ordinances are now being issued in more and more cases despite knowledge of the case law that has already been issued." The criticism of local politics is not clearer.

What is the dispute about? Online trade has been booming for years and is causing major problems for stationary trade in the cities and communities in North Rhine-Westphalia. Amazon and Co. make sales around the clock and seven days a week. The closing time does not apply to internet retailers. Mayors and local politicians therefore want to accommodate their trade taxpayers with Sunday shopping.

This is also possible in a limited number according to the NRW Shop Protection Act. Eight shopping Sundays per year are permitted. Martin Fassnacht is Director of the Chair for Strategy and Marketing at the Otto Beisheim School of Management in Düsseldorf. “I understand the municipalities. Stationary retail is important. Online trading has been growing rapidly for years. But the municipalities have none of that,” says the economist.

“People have more time and more leisure to spend more money. However, there is one restriction right now: if it weren't for the recession," says Fassnacht. “Entrepreneurs are called entrepreneurs because they like to try something new. And so retailers are trying to compete with online retailing with offers such as Sunday shopping.”

“The last state government around Economics Minister Andreas Pinkwart tried to offer a legal solution. However, we have informed the state that they are now offering the municipalities stones instead of bread," says Andreas Wohland from the Association of Towns and Municipalities. “As an association, we saw it coming. The municipalities have to pay for it.” In his estimation, the problem lies in the discrepancy between federal and state requirements. “We would have preferred a different legal regulation. Not necessarily eight shopping Sundays, but a legally secure solution, but then three or four.”

Wohland emphasizes: "As a result, we started a nationwide information campaign with application aids for the municipalities together with the Ministry of Economic Affairs. In it, we expressly point out to the municipalities that, according to the current legal situation, the shop opening on Sunday may only be an appendix to a local event and not the other way around.”

Astrid Rogge-Musall, NRW-Verdi union secretary, has doubts anyway that Sunday shopping really does bring more sales to retailers. "Especially at the present time, people keep the money together and wait to see how high the next heating bill will be. Except for groceries, no one spends money. However, retail has additional costs due to Sunday shopping.”