Meadowhall scraps 11pm Christmas shopping in huge reduction of holiday opening hours

Late night Christmas shopping at Sheffield’s Meadowhall is another casualty of the coronavirus pandemic.
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In an email to retailers at the centre seen by the Star, Meadowhall bosses announced they would be ‘significantly reducing’ trading hours over the Christmas period.

This means opening hours will not be extended to 11pm as normal and the centre will only be open until 10pm on four peak trading days.

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The email adds that the centre will not be opening at 9am on weekdays in November, totalling a ‘62 hour reduction’ in trading hours between November 2 and December 30.

The Christmas opening hours at Meadowhall will be reduced this year.The Christmas opening hours at Meadowhall will be reduced this year.
The Christmas opening hours at Meadowhall will be reduced this year.

The email reads: “Careful consideration has been given, to take into account the fine balance between current COVID-19 measures, team availability, wage budget restrictions and furlough schemes along with the customer experience, managing centre capacities and the need to rebuild the centre’s evening economy as we approach Christmas.”

It comes after a post on the Meadowhall Facebook page about how the centre became the first in the country to offer late night shopping in the mid 1990s.

A spokesperson for Meadowhall said: “Our festive trading hours are agreed democratically by our retailers.

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“We’re continuing to work with our retail partners to support their operations and to ensure our shoppers have an enjoyable and safe experience while at Meadowhall.”

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