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4th of July

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pizzashack

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I am torn on whether or not to open on the 4th. I will be out of town and my main Wednesday guy wants off for a party. I don’t know what to expect business wise since it will be my first. Memorial Day was our best Monday of the year, about 60% over average. I am worried about upsetting customers if we close and the oppurtunity to snag new ones from other places that are closed. Is it worth it? :?
 
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Memorial Day is a good-day for us also. But we close on the 4th. We miss about 12-16 calls.
 
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I will jump in on this topic as it has always been a huge question mark.

I have always closed on the 4th. We hold a big company BBQ during the day. With 4 stores I have aboput 75 employees and we actually do “grade school” field day type activites. Store vs Store. Even though these are all adults and such everyone has a great time. We get about 70% attendance.

That being said I have some of my guys who worked for Dominos and they are open. They tell me it was really busy. The reason is they are the only pizza shop open in town.

Big Dave always said to be open for that reason - everyone else is closed.

I would rather take the day to tell my employees and their families “THANK YOU” and then they have the night off to enjoy whatever other festivities they choose.

If I were to open I would open only for dinner rush 4PM - 8PM and in my store that is open super late I would re-open at 10PM - 2am. Lunchtime would be a definate waste.

Plus add in the fact that you technically have to pay time and half to employees it is a no brainer to me.

My advice is if your employees want to be off already and you would have them come in, they may not be in the best mood and that will translate to poor customer service so even if you pick up some new customers they may not be back.
 
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July 4th is one of our top 5 busiest fays of the year. Okay for lunch, busy for dinner, slow for the fireworks, and extremely busy late night after the fireworks. It is usually one of the busiest weeks of the year.
 
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314:
Plus add in the fact that you technically have to pay time and half to employees it is a no brainer to me.
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Not sure if your state has rules regarding overtime on holidays but the US department of labor does not. It is addressed here: http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/wages/overtimepay.htm
The FLSA does not require overtime pay for work on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, or regular days of rest, unless overtime hours are worked on such days.
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@314, Colorado does NOT regquire that you pay time and half. We certainly don’t.

For me it comes down to how busy will we be? The 4th is a pretty good day; better than that day would be otherwise. We just closed for the day yesterday to go rafting with all employees. I would much rather give up a day in early June than in July, but July is double the sales of June for us.

One way to decide might be to ask how is July? If it is one of your better months stay open, if it is one of your slower months go ahead and take the day off. For Us July is generally the 4th or 5th best month of the year. No way I am closing.
 
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We always close as well.

We have 2 stores and have a company softball game and picnic, where we provide all the food and drinks for the staff, their families, and a guest.

We have a great turnout and it’s the one day of the year that we can all get together, have fun, be competitive, and no one has to worry about getting to work. 3-4 hours early in the day and then they’re off to enjoy the rest of it with their own family.

We don’t usually don’t miss that much business, but it’s important to try and show our thanks to the employees who work hard for us all year.
 
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It seems that if your in an area where people will travel to…I Estes Park gets many folks from Longmont traveling up to spend the day and watch Fireworks, that your busy.

My areas are like ghost towns and the 2 weeks prior to July 4th and 2 weeks after are the slowest of the year for me in Boulder County.

I guess you have to know your area to determine whether or not it is worth it.
 
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I am with you Dale. If the 4th is in the middle of dead season, it would be a fine day to take off!
 
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