Retail Clerks Demand 6:00 PM Closing Time
Unionized clerks in Everett are threatening action against merchants who refuse to close their stores by 6:00 PM on weekdays.
The clerks' union, Local No. 448, of this city wishes to thank the retail merchants who so readily complied with our request to close their places of business at 6:00 p.m. every night except Saturday. A committee appointed to look after this matter found, on Monday night, June 20, only two clothing stores and one jewelry store open on Riverside and one jewelry store near Broadway and one small clothing store and small shoe store below Grand avenue on Bayside. Unless these stores comply with our request, we will take action against them at once, with the help of all unions in the city. All the clerks ask for, and expect to maintain, is the six o'clock closing hours, and we respectfully ask the help of all in this matter.
“All the clerks ask for, and expect to maintain, is the six o'clock closing hours.”
The 'retail closing' battle of 1910 highlights a century-old tension between workers' time and consumer convenience. While we now have 24-hour retail, the struggle for shift worker protections and the right to unplug remains a core civic argument.
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