Nina's Blog - Saturday 4th April 2026

@ArishMell Which one?

Ah the benefit of being retired, you don't need to care much about what day of the week it is!

:-)

Shops here are generally only allowed to open on Sundays and holy days (helligdager) if they have no more than 100 m^2 of sales space (150 m^2 for petrol stations). Exceptions include garden centres, art galleries, and a few others. [1]

A shop can apply for an exception, for instance if it's in a typical tourist area (typisk turiststed). But it's very rare for supermarkets to open on Sundays or helligdager. One of the four in this village does but it was not very much larger than the limit to start with and has now permanently restricted its floor area to less than 100 m^2 and I know of one in the next town that has a system of partitions that allows them to close off the bulk of the shop for the same purpose.

[1] https://www.ostlendingen.no/fakta-om-regler-for-sondagsapne-butikker/x/5-69-241780

@ninalanyon Oh, the pink skirt!

The supermarkets in the UK are supposed to close at 4pm on Sunday but have been given carte-blanche for far too long. There is no reason for them to open on Bank Holidays - they are not hospitals, broadcasters, the emergency-services or caterers. They do so merely for commerce.

@ArishMell Exactly! But the right wing parties here (FrP and Høyre) are agitating to get the rules changed here in Norway, have been for decades. The only winners in such a scenario are the biggest supermarkets and the owners of shopping centres. Certainly individual workers won't benefit and nor will small shops that will find it necessary to stay open longer simply to avoid losing trade.

@ArishMell The pink one looks good and is very comfortable for sitting still in but it was very irritating to walk in it because it is so narrow it restricts my stride. So I've decided it's got to go.