S.L. businesses' observance of holiday is open-and-shut

Federal employees had Friday off work for the legal observance of the Fourth of July. But some of the enterprises that usually shut down on a holiday were hard at work.

Think postal workers and bank tellers, who joined car salesmen, grocery clerks and the folks at the local check-cashing stand for a business-as-usual day.

Because July 4 this year falls on Saturday, employers had to think harder about the do-we-don't-we question of working Friday.

At the Wells Fargo Bank branch on the corner of 300 South and 400 East, for instance, tellers and loan officers were busy with customers Friday, although Wall Street and the Federal Reserve took the day off. The bank will be closed Saturday — a day it's usually open. To take the designated legal holiday off, they would have had to take two days for the one-day holiday, a pair of employees explained. That would be disruptive not only for individual customers but for transaction flow, as well.

The men, who didn't want their names used since they are not corporate spokesmen, said all the employees are compensated the same for the legal holiday, so working was just fine. They'll each take a vacation day later in the year.

Happy to be here was the sentiment at the post office, as well, where clerks were selling stamps and weighing packages in the morning. Mail handlers were delivering as usual. They, too, normally work Saturdays, so they'll celebrate the Fourth of July by taking Saturday off.

The streets of Salt Lake City were pretty quiet Friday morning, with businesses open or shut on a somewhat random business. Northwest Multipurpose Center's day care was shut. An antique store on 200 South was closed, while one on State Street was open. Library Square was bustling — and so was ZLB Plasma Services. An employee said that's normally open on Saturday, too, but it will be closed for the holiday.

A couple of downtown complexes housing doctors and dentists were closed, the parking lots deserted. And if you wanted a key made at a specialty shop or to get a tattoo, too bad. But a veterinarian's office was open, and so was a pawn shop. And at least one downtown dentist was busy filling teeth.

An auto body shop was open, and a windshield repair shop was closed. And of a pair of tile showrooms less than a block apart, one was open, one was shut. The results were mixed for pharmacies, as well.

"No, we're here," laughed a clerk at a small specialty retail shop. "But the bosses took the day off."

When to observe the holiday, in fact, showed a fair amount of independent thinking on the part of business owners — no doubt fitting, for Independence Day.

E-mail: lois@desnews.com