Break Time: Reasons for Closing on Sunday

It’s a fast-paced world, and only getting faster. Too often the 40-hour work week, is more like 50 hours, and that’s just in the office, or at the store, the shop, wherever it is that you make your living, or help others make theirs. The advent of the internet, telecommuting, smart-phones, iPads, tablets, etc, hasn’t freed us up the way we dreamed. Too often we find ourselves doing just a little bit extra after we get home, we get a call from someone at work, we have to take care of “just one little thing,” and next thing we’re on the phone, the computer, the tablet, for another hour.

We’re becoming more and more stressed. For most of us, our day off is our busiest day of the week. Our day off just doesn’t have enough time in them to do everything we need. We need 48 hours just to get those done, and when do we relax and take a breather?

A Radical Solution

If you’re in the retail business, may I suggest something radical, rebellious even—try closing on Sunday. If you’re an office worker, give other people the chance to relax rest and recharge on Sunday and don’t do any shopping on that day. If you’re an entrepreneur, you need the downtime. You just might find it more relaxing than you thought.

I already hear you saying, “But closing on Sunday is a religious thing and I’m running a business, I have to make money.” I completely understand. Closing on Sunday isn’t just a religious issue; there are definite benefits to your company by closing on Sunday.

Yes, most of the companies that choose to close on Sundays do so for religious reasons, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t valid reasons for the practice.

The first one may be relatively small, but any money saved helps, especially when it doesn’t hurt your employees. (Too often saving money is done at the employees’ expense—reducing insurance benefits, eliminating things like company get togethers, etc.—with the bigwigs not feeling any of the pinching.) By closing on Sunday, right off the top, you’re eliminating the necessity of payroll expenses for that day.

Another savings is in employee turnover, because constantly training new hires is expensive. Chick-Fil-A, often the poster child for Sunday business closure, has an enviable turnover rate of only 5% for franchisees, and for hourly employees of 60%. The industry average turnover rate is 107%. With such a low rate the training expense is drastically reduced.

This also ties into employee loyalty. Chick-Fil-A talks about the quality of employees they attract because of their Sunday closing policy. Their people enjoy knowing that at least one day a week is guaranteed off.

And that goes for everyone else. Given all the modern pressures, that one set day off each week can make the difference.

Cathay Truett—the founder of Chick-Fil-A—also notes that closing his stores on Sunday allows his employees time to rest and recharge themselves, to worship and attend to their spiritual life (however they define it), spend time with their family and friends.

What employer wouldn’t want employees who are more rested and relaxed and ready to face the work week?

Author and radio commentator, Dennis Prager lists strengthening the family and community among as one of the six reasons for observing the Sabbath. By not working on Sunday—or Saturday if you’re Jewish like Prager—people are more likely to spend time with family members and friends, strengthening those essential relationships. And when those relationships are stronger, the community itself becomes stronger.

Once again, as we’ve seen before following principles like this always takes us beyond ourselves and help to make the world a better place.

Can I Make Money Closing on Sunday?

The answer is obvious: Of course you can.

And you can make seriously obscene money while you’re doing it.

The craft store Hobby Lobby is one of the other poster children for business Sunday closure. This includes staying closed on Sundays, during the busy Christmas season, one of the busiest in retail. Additionally the company also bucks standard practice for business hours by closing up shop at 8 p.m. The founder and CEO of the company, David Green is among Forbes wealthiest men in America, ranking number 81 out of 400, with a net worth of $6.4 billion. Who says religion and money don’t mix?

In 2015 Chick-Fil-A did $5.8 billion in revenue, with each restaurant selling around $3.1 million. That’s more than McDonald’s averages at any of their stores.

In 1995, Warren Buffet’s Berkshire-Hathaway bought R.C. Wiley, a regional home furnishing company based in the small town of Syracuse, Utah. Since the company’s founding it had maintained a strict closed on Sunday policy. At the time the company was worth about $200 million (sold for about $175 million). Keeping the stores closed on Sunday was a condition of the sale, even as the company began to expand out of Utah. Buffett was skeptical, so the CEO, Bill Child, proposed an experiment, footing all the costs himself, opening a store in Boise, Idaho. Buffett was impressed with the results. The results were the same with the Las Vegas store.

As the company has expanded beyond its Intermountain West origins, it has maintained the closed on Sunday policy, and is now worth $1 billion.

Yes, you can definitely make money by keeping your store closed on Sunday. More importantly, you’ll be more rested and relaxed, as will your employees, you’ll be helping your family and communities become stronger, and you’ll differentiate yourself from the herd.

Just think, you get employees who are more rested and relaxed, more loyal employees, a unique position in the market, you save money and can make bank. All good things, don’t you think?