Geschlossen means 'closed' in German.
It is the country's most common retail sign.
Shopping in Germany is inconvenient.
Laws restrict retail store hours.
Protecting families are the rule's objectives, but a family feud is brewing as to who needs protection.
The stringent German retail hour laws are called das Ladenschlussgesetz or the shop hour act.
Tight control on shop hours intend to strengthen the families of retailers and shoppers by separating them for large portions of the week.
Since the law's inception in 1956, German retail hours loosened a little.
Recently, weekday hours expanded to 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM.
Saturdays now end at 4:00 PM.
Bäckerei are open two hours on Sunday to provide post-Church pastries and bread.
Aside from gasoline stations and some tourist-area shops, most businesses shut down on Sunday.
German retailers defend the practice by insisting shops must compete with their products and service, not store hours.
They claim store hour expansion will increase retail labor costs, but only move the revenue from one day to the next.
Prices will increase, driving down retail revenue.
Retailers point to other European countries and the United States with wide open retail hours.
Shopping malls, with stores open 12 to 24 hours per day, disrupt families.
Christian Kirchner and Richard Painter published a 2000 study called, The Economics of Germany's Shop Closing Hours Regulation.
In it, they described German retailers a powerful cartel with the ability to manage store hours while commanding high retail prices.
Rather than purchase less, the research showed Germans willing to pay premium prices for more convenience.
Many drive to gas stations to purchase groceries when the stores are closed.
While das Ladenschlussgesetz objectives are to protect family life, two segments of German families push for change.
At the time the laws developed, the 'three K's' surrounded German women: kinder/children; kirch/church; and katch/kitchen.
Frau's and Fräulein's in the 1950's easily adapted to mid-day/weekday shopping parameters.
Time and women changed.
According to Organization for Economic Co-operations and Development, 60% of German women, between the ages of 15 and 64, are now working.
Leaving a job in the late evening, does not allow time for basic grocery shopping.
German shoppers customarily purchase a few items at many stores.
Saturday becomes the compressed shopping day.
Religious faiths with Saturday service face huge challenges.
Working women and couples press the government for change.
In 1989, about 16 million East Germans joined the west as a unified Germany.
Under Communist rule, citizens faced shortages of retail goods, but no restrictions on store hours.
An endless supply of consumer products now fill the shelves in Berlin, Lepzig, and Dresden.
The former East Germans lobby their government for more time to buy them.
Will the pressure by the working and former communist families win over the traditional and retail families? Time will tell.
The retail clock barely moved over the last half century.
Citizens and tourists enjoy taking evening walks in German shopping areas.
They tend to concentrate in city centre on pedestrian-only streets.
Colorful store windows blaze with clothes, porcelain, and jewelry.
The magic entices the buyer.
As they reach for the door, the sign reads, 'Geschlossen' - inconveniently, intolerably, and insufferably closed.
It is the country's most common retail sign.
Shopping in Germany is inconvenient.
Laws restrict retail store hours.
Protecting families are the rule's objectives, but a family feud is brewing as to who needs protection.
The stringent German retail hour laws are called das Ladenschlussgesetz or the shop hour act.
Tight control on shop hours intend to strengthen the families of retailers and shoppers by separating them for large portions of the week.
Since the law's inception in 1956, German retail hours loosened a little.
Recently, weekday hours expanded to 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM.
Saturdays now end at 4:00 PM.
Bäckerei are open two hours on Sunday to provide post-Church pastries and bread.
Aside from gasoline stations and some tourist-area shops, most businesses shut down on Sunday.
German retailers defend the practice by insisting shops must compete with their products and service, not store hours.
They claim store hour expansion will increase retail labor costs, but only move the revenue from one day to the next.
Prices will increase, driving down retail revenue.
Retailers point to other European countries and the United States with wide open retail hours.
Shopping malls, with stores open 12 to 24 hours per day, disrupt families.
Christian Kirchner and Richard Painter published a 2000 study called, The Economics of Germany's Shop Closing Hours Regulation.
In it, they described German retailers a powerful cartel with the ability to manage store hours while commanding high retail prices.
Rather than purchase less, the research showed Germans willing to pay premium prices for more convenience.
Many drive to gas stations to purchase groceries when the stores are closed.
While das Ladenschlussgesetz objectives are to protect family life, two segments of German families push for change.
At the time the laws developed, the 'three K's' surrounded German women: kinder/children; kirch/church; and katch/kitchen.
Frau's and Fräulein's in the 1950's easily adapted to mid-day/weekday shopping parameters.
Time and women changed.
According to Organization for Economic Co-operations and Development, 60% of German women, between the ages of 15 and 64, are now working.
Leaving a job in the late evening, does not allow time for basic grocery shopping.
German shoppers customarily purchase a few items at many stores.
Saturday becomes the compressed shopping day.
Religious faiths with Saturday service face huge challenges.
Working women and couples press the government for change.
In 1989, about 16 million East Germans joined the west as a unified Germany.
Under Communist rule, citizens faced shortages of retail goods, but no restrictions on store hours.
An endless supply of consumer products now fill the shelves in Berlin, Lepzig, and Dresden.
The former East Germans lobby their government for more time to buy them.
Will the pressure by the working and former communist families win over the traditional and retail families? Time will tell.
The retail clock barely moved over the last half century.
Citizens and tourists enjoy taking evening walks in German shopping areas.
They tend to concentrate in city centre on pedestrian-only streets.
Colorful store windows blaze with clothes, porcelain, and jewelry.
The magic entices the buyer.
As they reach for the door, the sign reads, 'Geschlossen' - inconveniently, intolerably, and insufferably closed.