Rob Kallas, general manager of the University Mall in Orem where all stores but one are closed on Sundays, said some of the larger national stores there have sometimes studied or experimented opening Sundays but usually end up closing for lack of business. An exception is Mervyn's, which he said remains open on Sundays there because of a national policy to have all its stores open on Sunday.

Even while the newer Provo Towne Centre mall across town is open on Sundays, Kallas said he expects most of University Mall to remain closed on Sundays for the foreseeable future. "We find that many of our (smaller) tenants have chosen us and not other malls because we are closed on Sunday, and that is important to them."

LDS difference?

One way that Utah County is different, which may contribute to why more stores close there on Sunday, is that its population has the highest percentage of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints among the state's counties.

About 88 percent of Utah County residents are LDS, according to Brigham Young University geography professor Sam Otterstrom, who adds there may be some correlation between that percentage and the high numbers of Sunday closings.

Other counties with high percentages of LDS members do have higher-than-average numbers of Sunday closings but not as high as Utah County.

For example, in Morgan County, where the LDS population percentage is nearly identical to Utah County, 25 percent of its stores contacted close on Sunday. That's about 67 percent higher than the state average but still far lower than Utah County.

On the other end of the spectrum, Grand County, where Otterstrom said only 25 percent of the population is LDS, the lowest in the state, 87 percent of its stores contacted open on Sundays — just a bit above the state average.

In Summit County, where 36 percent of the population is LDS, the second lowest, 95 percent of stores contacted are open Sundays. But it is also a ski resort area.

The new poll shows that LDS members surveyed in Utah are more reluctant to shop on Sundays than others.

The new poll showed that 48 percent of LDS members surveyed said they had shopped on a Sunday during the past year. In comparison, 100 percent of Catholics surveyed said they had shopped on Sunday, as did 97 percent of Protestants surveyed and 100 percent of those who belonged to other churches or no church at all.

Activity levels in the church also make a difference. Among LDS members who described themselves as "very active," 64 percent said they had never shopped on Sunday; only 12 percent of those "somewhat active" had never shopped on Sunday ; and only 5 percent who said they are "not active" had never shopped on Sundays.

Why open?

Stores that open on Sundays say it is for the convenience of modern customers who now do more weekend shopping, especially in a time when both spouses often work all week. Some also say competition virtually requires Sunday openings.