Sunday Retail Sales to Begin in Square

For the first time this Sunday, Massachusetts retailers will be allowed to open up their doors for business, but not all Harvard Square proprietors will be rushing to cash in on the repeal of the ancient "Blue Laws."

In December, the Massachusetts Legislature voted to repeal the statutes prohibiting retail sales on Sundays, the outgrowth of a Massachusetts tradition as old as the Pilgrims. The new law--which formally goes into effect Sunday--affects most retail establishments except for liquor stores.

But while several stores in the Square do plan to remain open on Sundays, many managers are passing up the extra day of sales for financial or religious reasons.

Many proprietors said there would not be enough business on Sundays to justify staying open and that the extra expense of staffing their stores that day would offset any additional revenue.

"This cripples small stores," Dennis E. Black, an employee at J. Press, said yesterday. "Big stores want to put pressure on small stores that can't afford to be open a seventh day."

"Who wants to buy glasses on a Sunday?" Billie P. Montgomery, an optician at Optique, said.

James Argeros, general manager of the Coop, was unavailable for comment yesterday. Argeros told The Crimson in December--when the new law was before the state legislature--that while the Coop might stay open on "selective Sundays" such as Yale Weekend and during Commencement, it would generally keep its current six-days-a-week schedule.

Managers of stores in The Garage shopping arcade will meet today to decide whether to remain open on Sundays.

Other owners said they were unwilling to give up their one free day of the week.

But other proprietors interviewed yesterday welcomed the opportunity to gain another sales day.

"It won't be like Saturday, but it will be good," Vincent Cirincione, owner of Dance Plus, said yesterday.

Managers who plan to keep their stores open on Sundays hope that a heavy concentration of open stores in the Square will lure back part of Saturday's crowds.

"People are going to come here when they can't get into brunches," Edward G. Symkus, manager of Beggar's Banquet Records, said yesterday, adding, "We're going to be the place to wait."

Many owners who favor Sunday sales have already taken advantage of loopholes in the old law that allowed some operations, such as bookstores, to remain open. Another exemption, passed in 1977, allows stores to stay open on Sundays from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

Under the new law, owners must pay overtime to regular employees who work on Sundays. The statute also contains provisions designed to protect the jobs of employees who refuse to work the extra day.

Sabbath

While most proprietors based their decision on economic considerations, some were guided by the religious mandate that originally inspired the Blue Laws.

"We like to stay with the Church," one J. Press employee said yesterday. "That's the Lord's day and He said we should rest." Michael W. Hirschorn assisted in the reporting of this article.