I would imagine it's just logic and understanding the flow of trade in the area which dictates Monday closing....if you speak to any of the shop-owners they'll probably tell you that it really does not make economic sense (paying money for heating, lighting, staff etc etc) to open on a day at the beginning of the week when they are likely to see very, very little or possibly no customers to cover those costs... and they probably aren't just lazing around at home having a day off but doing paperwork, catching up on stock inventory, financial planning etc. I think this is a fundamental misunderstanding of the logistics involved in running a shop to say that they should stay open all day every day, whatever. You'd probably end up losing more money than you'd make doing that during a recession! It's a judgment call for shopkeepers but people do seem to do most of their shopping at the weekend (and end of the week) now, so maybe visit on another day and have a chat with our local retailers to see if that is indeed the case.