Perth shopping hours finally extending

If you’ve already been to Perth, you might have noticed that the shops tend to close quite early on most days. Perth people have long been complaining about highly regulated, short shopping hours and it’s been a sore point given that most other cities of Australia have had much longer shopping hours.

The good news is it looks like things will finally be changing. Politicians from both sides are now looking like they’ll agree on extending shopping hours to 9.00pm each weeknight. There’s still some debate about what kind of trading hours will exist for Sunday but it’s already a big improvement to be able to shop in the evenings – at the moment, most shops close around 5.30pm or 6.00pm, with longer opening times on Thursdays. I’ve often heard visitors and tourists complain about not being able to go shopping on other evenings, so I’m pretty sure it won’t be just the locals who will be happy with these changes.

If you’re looking for some good shopping areas in Perth, then the city centre with the Murray and Hay Street malls is a great place to start. Heading down to Fremantle is also a good destination for souvenir shopping in particular. In the suburbs, numerous large shopping malls exist with department stores and boutiques to spend a few Aussie dollars in. Just remember that more shopping hours probably mean more Aussie dollars will be needed!

[Photo of a Perth department store courtesy of David A Villa]