With social distancing requirements still impacting store visitor capacity, nearly all the major supermarket chains have confirmed that they will be extending their opening hours over the key Christmas period.
Having moved away from 24 hour opening in recent years, hundreds of Tesco stores are set to trade around the clock from the middle of December until Christmas. The remainder of its estate will trade until 11pm.
Sainsbury’s is extending opening hours from 6am until midnight in “the vast majority” of its stores from 21 December to “give customers more time to shop safely with us”.
Morrisons is also planning to extend its hours, as are M&S and Waitrose. Asda has said it is not planning widescale changes, although many of its larger stores are already open until late.
Meanwhile, Aldi has confirmed that its stores will open until 11pm during the Christmas week.
Amid fears of a last-minute Christmas rush when the lockdown ends in England next week, retailers have been calling for a relaxation of trading on Sundays to help ease congestion in stores.
