Canton Zug, 01.10.2019

Will shopping hours in Zug soon be longer?

Shops should be allowed to stay open one hour longer in Canton Zug: on working days until 8 pm, and Saturdays until 6 pm. This is the demand of an initiative from the young wings of the middle-class parties in Zug, which was submitted yesterday.

Last night, the "Longer shopping” committee, made up of representatives of the Young Liberal party of Zug (Jungfreisinnigen), the Young Green Liberals and the Young SVP submitted the "+1" initiative. In front of the government building, they handed a total of 2,027 signatures to the State Chancellery. 2,000 signatures are required for the submission of a cantonal legislative initiative. The demand of the young parties: shops in the canton of Zug should be open an hour longer in the future – on weekdays from 6 am to 8 pm, and on Saturdays up to 6 pm.

"Within these periods, the store owners should be able to organise their opening hours flexibly, and thereby align themselves to the needs of their customers," said Gian Brun, President of Zug Young Liberals and National Council candidate, at the subsequent media orientation.

The purchasing behaviour of customers has changed, and many people in Zug increasingly want to shop after 7 pm, emphasized Brun. In the evening, you can see queues at the petrol stations and station shops, and sales in traditional shops are falling, while those in convenience stores are increasing. “Society has changed. The need for longer opening hours has arisen from the new family structures and changes in working hours.”

The demand for longer shop opening hours is a well-known theme in the Canton of Zug. After voters in Zug rejected the complete liberalisation of opening hours by 54.5 % in 2002, the young parties started collecting signatures four years ago. There is now a "true compromise" on the table - with the "+1" initiative, the "outdated shop opening law" from the year 2003 can finally be adapted, says Chris Greter, vice-president of the Jungfreisinnigen of Canton Zug. It is only a matter of a moderate easing, leaving the shop owners much more freedom in the choice of their opening hours. "In addition, many people from Zug do their shopping outside the canton, as there are more attractive shop opening hours there. Zug is an island." With the exception of Lucerne, the surrounding cantons no longer have fixed store opening hours. "With longer opening hours in Zug, more people would shop here, making driving to other cantons unnecessary, and that would also be good for the climate," says Greter.

Tabea Estermann, co-president of the Junge Grünliberalen Zug, then raised the issue of the protection of employees. Longer opening hours would create more jobs and provide more flexibility in working time arrangements. "This is particularly interesting for students and part-time workers with families."

Local businesses support the initiative. Both the trade association of the canton of Zug (Gewerbeverband Zug) and the business association of the city of Zug (Gewerbeverein der Stadt Zug) already confirmed their support of the "+1" initiative in February. The wish to be able to shop for an hour longer is present, said association president Roland Staerkle.

Photo: Representatives of the "Longer shopping" committee hand over the signatures from the Zug municipalities