Miltons Gear owner Wayne Inglis said he won’t be opening on Boxing Day because personal concerns were more important than retail.

“It’s not for us, Boxing Day should be about spending time with family and friends, not working or shopping,” Mr Inglis said.

“I don’t think we’d get more sales.”

Retail veteran Joan Brennan, who had owner Joan’s Shoes for 20 years, didn’t think she lost any sales by not opening on Boxing Day either.

“I haven’t opened on Boxing Day in the past 20 years and I won’t open this year,” Ms Brennan said.

“Everybody deserves a bit of family time.”

The busiest sale periods for many of Wagga’s clothing and fashion retailers were at the change of season, so both Mr Inglis and Ms Brennan were looking to the end of January for their next big push.

Retailers across NSW were traditionally prohibited from opening on Boxing Day, but changes in legislation last year saw the restrictions eased.

Wagga Business Chamber president Andrew Bell said Boxing Day trade was beneficial from a commercial point of view, but he didn’t think closed shops would impact on Wagga’s reputation with visitors.

“It’s up to individual business owners whether they want to open,” Mr Bell said. “If they do, that’s fantastic, but it’s up to them.”

According to the NSW Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) secretary Bernie Smith, one in three retail workers felt pressured or intimidated to work on Boxing Day last year, which was against the law.

“It’s illegal for employers or managers to pressure staff into working on Boxing Day,” Mr Smith said.

“But the reality is retail employees feel pressure to work from their managers, when saying no runs the risk of having your hours cut or missing out on extra work at other times. 

“Trading on Boxing Day provides no economic benefit but deprives retail workers of the opportunity to spend the festive season with their families.”