Oxford Street on a Sunday

I was having a walk in Oxford Street last Sunday. With two rays of sun, the Londoners were out and the street was completely crowded, people enjoying the warm weather and the shops. Indeed, all the shops were opened and people were buying en masse according to the number of retailers bags each were carrying.

As I was witnessing this shopping spree, I was reflecting on a walk I had on a sunny afternoon in Paris last year. The town was beautiful as ever and people were enjoying drink on terraces but almost no one was shopping for the very simple reason that most of the shops were closed (except on the Champs-Elysées). This is something I can't understand: the French government is desperate to decrease unemployment and is asking French people to consume more to drive growth and yet, most of the shops are still closed most Sunday. Allowing shops to operate every Sunday would probably be a popular measure with the population, it would decrease unemployment because more staff would be required in the shops and it would drive consumptions because of the extra day for shopping.

I guess it's not that simple otherwise our politicians would have pushed for it but I don't really understand the drawbacks. Of course, people would have to work on Sunday but many services are operating on Sunday (public transportation, hospitals...) so it's not an impossible task.