– We want to make Oslo even more vibrant, says Anita Leirvik North (H). The Culture and Business Council wants to have restaurants, cultural life, but also trade on the team. – Giving shops in Oslo the opportunity to stay open on a Sunday can contribute to this, she says. She clarifies that it is not all of Oslo, but parts of central Oslo. YES TO SUNDAYS OPEN: City Council for Culture and Industry, Anita Leirvik North. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB Typical tourist spot In order to be allowed to have shops open on Sundays, Oslo must be allowed to call itself a “typical tourist spot”. One in three Norwegian municipalities has this status today. But not Oslo. Most people can probably agree that Oslo is a tourist city. Just take a walk in Vigelandsparken or Karl Johan in the summer. But it is not as certain that the city is a typical tourist destination in the sense of the law. It is the State Administrator who decides whether a municipality or parts of a municipality can call itself a tourist destination – all or part of the year. The requirement to obtain this status is in the law: Having been refused before Oslo has not yet managed to convince the State Administrator – formerly the County Governor – that the city fulfills this requirement. Last time the Conservatives were on the city council, they applied several times, but were refused. Now they try again. – I think it is strange not to define Oslo as a tourist city, says Anita Leirvik North. In a memo to the city council, she states that the city council is in the process of making a new application to the State Administrator. – We will now immediately have a round of input on which geographical area in central Oslo to apply for an exception for, she writes. She is thus following up on the city council’s declaration that shops open on Sundays are part of the strategy to develop Oslo as a tourist destination. Should shops be allowed to stay open on Sundays? Yes, people should be able to shop when they want No, it is important to preserve Sunday as a different day Some shops in the typical tourist areas should be allowed to stay open Show result Tourist in own town Anita Leirvik North believes that the requirement in the law does not prevent open on Sundays if you look a little further at the term tourist. A tourist can be from the city itself, from the region, from the rest of the country and from abroad. – We have been through a pandemic, and we are more aware of man-made environmental challenges. We should build up on the local tourist and staycation, which is being talked about, says Anita Leirvik North. Here you can see what people on the street think about shops open on Sundays: – It’s a bit dead on a Sunday for tourists. But as usual, it’s nice to have a difference between weekdays and weekends. I can be open to that, for the tourists, says Elisabet. Photo: Nadir Mohammad Alam / news – I was born and raised in Sweden and there are shops open on Sundays. I miss it a little. I miss being able to do the bulk shopping on Sundays, fix food packages for the whole week. It doesn’t work here, says Johan Graucob. Photo: Nadir Mohammad Alam / news – There should be more shops open on Sundays. It would probably have attracted more tourists if it had been more open, says Mathea Hoksrød. Photo: Nadir Mohammad Alam / news Trade stands divided Is Sunday opening something the trade stands demand? Both yes and no, answers Oslo Handelsstands Forening (OHF). Managing director Bjørn Næss says that there are divided opinions among the members. TJA OPEN UNTIL SUNDAYS: Managing director of Oslo Handelsstands Forening, Bjørn Næss. Photo: Håvard Schei – In the tourist areas, the areas of central Oslo that attract a lot of tourists, the trade situation is probably predominantly positive. – But if you don’t expect a particularly high turnover on a Sunday, it won’t be profitable. Then you will have more hours open and perhaps sell the same volume, he says. He is therefore looking forward to the dialogue with the city council about the delimitation. – The idea was really the areas very close to the city centre, i.e. in the middle of Oslo city center within Ring 1. – At the same time, we know that there are areas outside this, Grünerløkka, Majorstua, Bogstadveien, for example, where there are a lot of tourists also on Sundays, says Bjørn Ness. BRUSTADBU: Today, the main rule is that grocery stores under 100 square meters can stay open on Sundays, so-called Brustadbuer. Photo: Jon Olav Nesvold / NTB scanpix Trade and office say no OHF is also keen to take care of its employees. Consideration for those who work in the shops is also the crowning argument of perhaps the foremost opponents of Sunday opening, namely the trade union Handel og Kontor. – If we open for Sunday trading, it will be more difficult for the employees to combine working life with family and leisure, says union leader Christopher Beckham. Business Council Anita Leirvik North says that she very much agrees with the trade union movement that store employees are also entitled to time off. Students But she reminds that Oslo is a large student city and that shops open on Sundays can give more people the opportunity for a part-time job. NO TO SUNDAYS OPEN: Confederation leader in Trade and Office, Chistopher Beckham. Photo: Kristin Grønberg – The Oslo City Council pushes the students ahead of them, answers Christopher Beckham in Handel og Kontor. – Nobody wants to be open on Sundays. Not the students, not the workers and not the employers. Here the Conservative City Council should take off its ideological blinders and listen to people. Oslo City Council must approve an application for tourist Sundays open before the City Council sends it to the State Administrator. Hello! Welcome to dialogue at news. Since you are logged in to other news services, you do not have to log in again here, but we need your consent to our terms of use for online dialogue
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The city council wants shops open on Sundays in Oslo – applying to become a tourist destination – Greater Oslo
