IN GERMANY, the customer is always wrong. If Wal-Mart thought that it could adopt America’s shop-’til-you-drop ethos at its Teutonic outlets, it had not reckoned with some of the most draconian shopping rules on the planet.

The Ladenschlussgesetz, or store closing law, is a sacred cow of unions that various governments have tampered with over the years without killing it off. It means that most shops have to shut by 6pm on a weekday and 4pm on Saturdays, with no opening again until Monday.

British consumers seeking to shop in Germany on a Sunday for the first time would be aghast at the desert that awaits them in major cities: miles and miles of closed and padlocked premises, forced to shut by law and not by choice. No pints of milk to be had, no ice-cream from the supermarket, no browsing the non-iron slacks rack at the Fatherland equivalent of Marks & Spencer. Nothing.

During the football World Cup the German states where the games were played temporarily relaxed store-closing laws in the hope that free-spending guests would help retailers who have suffered in past years at the hands of frugal Germans. Sales did not rise significantly, boosting the union argument that their members need more money and not more working hours.

Wal-Mart stores in Germany have often been derided as soulless and by critics dismayed at the artificial cheeriness of store greeters.

The stores even had a sales promotion aimed at lonely hearts. On Friday nights, singles looking for romance, flirting or just a new friend were invited to head over to their neighbourhood Wal-Mart where they received a big bright red bow to attach to their shopping trolley.

The company, which also tried to ban flirting by its staff, set up “flirting points” around the stores stacked with “romantic” merchandise such as chocolates, wine and cheese. Here, lonely shoppers were supposed to stop and strike up a relationship. Talked up big at the time by management, the idea never quite took off. The curbs on shopping hours by the Government — ironically, regulations that are due to be eased next month — contributed significantly to Wal-Mart’s woes.

Germany’s past attempts to liberalise store-closing laws, which have long been a symbol of its highly regulated version of capitalism, illustrate the complicated relationship between store hours, sales and profits.

The rules have been chipped away at, with the odd shop and chain store staying open till 8pm, but they remain a contentious issue, one which Berlin is washing its hands of and has given back to the state parliaments to decide next month.

Even so, the customer will not be king. The sway of the Catholic church in the south of the country will still keep shops shuttered on Sundays while high wage and ancillary costs for workers will ensure that only large chains will have the clout to carry on trading on the Sabbath.

BIG FOUR

Wal-Mart

Sales: $312.4 billion

Stores: 6,315

Countries: 15

Staff: 1.6 million

Carrefour

Sales: $77.9 billion

Stores: 2,710

Countries: 13

Staff: 380,000

Metro

Sales: $71.0 billion

Stores: 2,171

Countries: 20

Staff: 247,000

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