Do you close right AT your closing time or a few minutes early?

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

Most of the time I have worked at stores, I have closed within 5 minutes of the posted closing time.

If we close at 9, I'll usually lock the doors at 8:56 or so and begin closing procedures. Most of the companies I work for do have a rule that says we have to be open until the posted time, but it's not heavily policed (though they usually won't tolerate locking the doors earlier than 5 minutes before close).

So, fellow SCers, do you lock up early or leave the doors open until the end?

[Mike Taylor]

The gates come down at closing time right on the dot.

[Evil Queen]

If it's a slow day, I'll generally balance my shift HOURS before clock out time.

Like... today... (I have 4 more hours to end shift and my drawer is perfectly balanced)

Other times, I'm so busy I don't get a chance until my relief shows up so I balance on the back computer while the Night Auditor takes over.

[king4aday]

I cant close early . Our store has a device on the doors that counts the people that come into the store (a lot of stores have this little device), but ours also informs corporate of the times that we unlock and lock our doors. I found this out the hard way one night when I closed the doors early on a day when I had had 5 customers in a 12 hour shift...and I was alone craving contact with another friend or someone to talk to. Needless to say the next day I got a written note from corporate informing me that they can in fact see when I lock the doors (I locked them 5 minutes early) and that from that point on I was not to lock them early...I can unlock them early...but not lock them early.

[Misanthropical]

BossMan let's us go 5 minutes before our shift is suppose to end. He rules!

[Fenrus]

Our shift ends at 0615, but the day shift comes in at 0600, so we usually get to leave between 0605 and 0610.

[KellyHabersham]

At the library, we generally lock the patio doors about ten minutes before closing, but have to keep the main doors unlocked until the official closing time. (which is either 9 or 6 pm, depending on what day it is)

With my office assistant job, I don't have to lock up when the pastor is there, but when he's out of town, I generally start closing procedures a few minutes early, but I don't start locking doors or anything until we're officially closed.

[powerboy]

It just depends for me. If we are busy, then it might be at 5pm when we start to close or later. Other times, we start closing a little early.

[daleduke17]

We would usually set the "offical" clock about two or three minutes ahead of the time clock so we could lock up and get the last of the day stuff (last till, on-hand cash, etc) put away before it is time to clock out.

If it was a holiday...well...3:55pm = 4pm for the north door with someone manning the south door to lock it at the stroke of 4pm (with the enthusiastic yelling of "LOCK 'EM!" so the idiots don't flock in).

[mattm04]

Our DM unofficially allows us a few minutes early close/late open for the doors. Individual departments up to 5 minutes, if the store is dead, as long as you don't do it too often.

[Pezzle]

Ugh. In some retail stores I worked in, the gates wouldn't roll down until 1 hr after close. And they wondered why I quit.

[RetailWorkhorse]

I have a set of French (double) doors in my store. About 8-5 minutes til, I lock one door. If no one's in the store, I stand at the door at 8:58pm to lock the doors as soon as my phone says it's 9:00.

Last night I locked the doors at 9:02 because I didn't know what time it was.

My Register tends to be the only one operating in the last 15-30 minutes of the workday, as SM and both Assistant SMs will pull their till and count their drawers in order to get out of the store faster (Corporate will actually attempt to close the store by Remote if End of Day hasn't been hit by 9:30pm, but sometimes we get around that because we're simply late in cleaning or had someone walk in an hour to close and they were buying a ton of stuff for shoe-box-kids or something like that).

[Cats]

We close at 10 pm, the in door usually gets locked around 9:57. I only work there sat nights, when after 9 pm its usually DEAD (no one else but the sub shops in the strip are open after that). Never run into a problem with someone comming after I lock the doors unless it's already after 10 pm anyway.

[Jay 2K Winger]

My store closes at 9 or 10 (depending on the day), and by and large, we close down at the hour in question. Sometimes, if it's been a particularly long day, but it's painfully slow in that last half-hour, we'll announce the closing time early so everyone can go home.

Our vestibule has five bay doors (like big garage doors), four facing the lot, one facing to the side, and an automatic door facing our neighbors to the other side. If the doors are all open, I start shutting them one by one starting a half-hour before closing, every ten minutes. I lock the automatic door at closing time, and start directing people out the bay door on the other side. (And I'll still occasionally get people who will ignore me, and just push the automatic door open (like it was a fire emergency), meaning I have to go push the things back together, and hope they haven't been knocked off the track entirely.

On days like Inventory Day, my co-worker Chris mans the front door, and he's ordered to start turning people away fifteen minutes before closing, which he'll gleefully do. "Sorry, I've been told not to let anyone else in. ...Because we're closing early for club inventory. ...Yes, I know what time it is. ...If you want to talk to a manager-- Hi, Jen! Sir, this is Jen, our GM. She'll tell you why you can't come in." And when he's doing this, they DO have a manager (not necessarily the GM) there to turn them away as well, even blocking their way into the store.

There was one day we closed half an hour early because we lost power. That was "fun." I was manning the door that day, too, and had to deal with angry customers demanding to know why the doors were locked. "We lost power!" And they'll start pointing to their watch, like but you shouldn't be closed yet! "Yeah, but we lost power! Sorry! Come back tomorrow!"

[lastofthesummerwine]

Your Time is Gonna Come-- at 9:54 AM! Ta!

At the movie palace, closing time was based on the time indicated on the register. Corporate reasoned (HAHAHA) that sales should be concluded within a few minutes after the time reflected by the machine.

Of course-- good fortune being what it ain't within Planet Retail-- there was about six minutes variance and, well, you can guess the rest. There was the plucky little booty gem who came in one evening to tell me that his watch was set by the Atomic Clock in CO, blah, blah, blah... After he deflated and left, I told Josh that that customer should come in during the morning, seeing as how I was so graciously starting the day six minutes early! To this day, I have a boulder-sized pain in my gut for not having said that to the ol' Watch Dog. God knows there were plenty of times when I spouted off at other cart cruising clowns for much less.