Thousands of small store owners are passing up the opportunity to trade almost unopposed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day, when the multiples will be closed. A straw poll taken this week showed that most independent neighbourhood retailers intend to banish all thoughts of jingling tills and spend Christmas Day and New Year's Day with their families, although a significant number will trade on Boxing Day. Londis and Spar expect many of their stores to take advantage of the multiples' closures, particularly on Boxing Day, while a Palmer & Harvey McLane spokesman expected some Mace stores in England and Wales to open. The general view was that many would trade for limited hours. Spar retail development controller Barry Wallis said: "Most of our members will see Boxing Day as a major opportunity for big sales, but I suspect it will be a different story on Christmas Day." Costcutter corporate affairs director Norman Walker believed that some of his group's stores would open on Boxing Day but thought, in the main, that his members would treat Christmas Day and New Year's Day as family occasions. A spokeswoman for Aberness, the Mace wholesaler in Scotland, said only four company-owned and five independent Mace outlets would open on Christmas Day and New Year's Day, but believed many more would do so on Boxing Day. For Scottish c-store chain Morning Noon & Night it's business as usual on Boxing Day while, on Christmas Day, it will open 30 of its 43 stores, and 32 on New Year's Day. Alldays said all its stores would be open on all holiday days, trading from 10am to 2pm on Christmas Day, 8am to 6pm Boxing Day and 8am to 6pm on New Year's Day. T&S Stores will open approximately half of its 900 One Stop and Dillons c-stores for four hours on Christmas Day, with normal trading on both Boxing Day and New Year's Day. Dean Holborn, who runs a CTN and general store in Redhill, Surrey, plans to make the most of the festive period. He won't open on Christmas Day because newspapers are not published, but he will trade until 2pm on Boxing Day. He said: "We've always opened on Boxing Day and it's normally a very busy morning for us. We take good money and sell across the board." The store will also open on New Year's Day, but there will be no newspaper deliveries. Holborn said: "We tell our customers that, if they want their newspapers, they will have to collect them. "It encourages them to come to us and because we don't open until 9am, it gives us extra time in bed. It all adds up to another busy morning." Nisa retailer Brian Hutchinson from Easingwold, near York, will close only on Christmas Day. He said: "Boxing Day is a very good day for us. We sell across the board, but it's a real impulse day for c-store lines." {{GROCER CLUB }}