Basically, the council voted NO to a request for Sunday All-day opening on the Sunday 23 December 2018 and 30th December 2018 (they already open in the mornings)…so Leclerc said they would not give their usual financial support to the CCAS (people in need).
Smarts of a school tantrum. If true ( and obviously i have no reason to doubt), it could backfire on them (LeClerc) if the communities feel strongly enough about it ?
There are 119 comments on the SudOuest page already… and quite a mixed response…
I say let them open if they want to and the staff are willing to work.
Our local Intermarché was open on the Sunday the 24th and 30th all day until 18h00, bit excessive in my view as most other supermarkets stayed open until 15h30 !
If Leclerc has been allowed Sunday all day opening during festive periods other years, then I can understand the patron’s anger… Not sure if this has been allowed in the past, over to you Stella 
It’s such a pity that he stopped his aid and the needy suffered but one can understand his stance, the money has to come from somewhere !
Hi Ann
I would love to have been a fly-on-the-wall at this particular council meeting …no doubt it would have been a thorough/lively discussion.
The vote leaves us in no doubt that the final decision was not just a whim of the Maire. 20 voted against, 7 voted for and 2 abstentions.
And I’ve just noted that both those Sundays are when the Village traditionally hosts holiday-style markets and special games/activities etc for all the family… so morning-opening for the stores is one thing… all-day opening was possibly seen as a step too far… and detrimental to commune/family stuff.
Me too !
Reading some of the posts on the comments page of SudOuest it appears that some of the locals went to neighbouring communes for their shopping. This put money in the coffers of Leclerc’s competitor’s so I can understand the anger. Also if it was open all day surely the people visiting the local markets would have also given their custom to the supermarket, works like that here with no problems 
Be interesting to see what follow-up (if any) there is on this News… (Sunday Opening is OK in some ways but very detrimental in others)…
The Leclercs around here (Gueret 23, Ussel 19) are never open on a Sunday, no matter what the date is.