Day's Jewelers customers vote to close stores on Sundays

The Telegraph, Nashua, N.H.
·2 min read

Jul. 23—WATERVILLE, Maine — Day's Jewelers will be closing all stores on Sundays after being open seven days a week for many years.

In the past, Day's has been open seven days a week to best serve its customers in the most convenient way possible. However, a survey of all employees indicated that working on Sundays made it challenging for some employees to balance work with their personal lives.

This led the employee-owned business to examine the benefits to its employees if the company were to close their stores on Sundays. Day's Jewelers has always been a company that values the opinions and needs of its employees, but also one that serves the customer first. As a result, a three-step approach to examining Sunday closure was instituted by Day's President, Joe Corey.

Step One: Survey all Day's employees to see if they would be willing to close on Sundays, with the understanding that there could be a financial impact to the company. Since Day's is an employee-owned company, a negative financial impact would adversely affect each employee's long-term income. This survey resulted in 90 responses, with 80% in favor of closing on Sundays, and 20% against it.

Step Two: Meet with several building landlords. Multiple Day's building leases required that certain stores must be open on Sundays. Joe Corey, Day's President, requested waivers from these landlords, which were all granted.

Step Three: Survey all Day's customers via email. Survey results concluded that more than 93% of Day's customers supported the closure of Day's stores on Sundays.

Due to building waivers being granted and the astonishing number of responses that were received — more than 700 comments from customers, most supporting the idea — the decision to close stores on Sundays was officially reached on July 10. Day's is proud to provide employees this opportunity to refresh themselves and create a better family/work balance.

"The landscape of business has changed dramatically over the past few years," said company President Joe Corey, "especially as it relates to employee wellness. Since our employees are the company's greatest asset, it was very important for us to ensure we do everything we can to support their needs, while also keeping our customers confidence and trust in us."

To best serve Day's customers, stores will re-open on Sundays during pertinent holiday shopping periods.