Whilst on vacation in the Netherlands I ran into a wonderful compromise between the ubiquitous late night shopping "convenience" of English-speaking North America and the "cosiness" of the early closing time that characterises European commerce.

In the Netherland, on most days of the week shops would close at 17:00 or 18:00, but one night would be designated as a special "shopping night" and shops would stay open until 20:00 or 21:00. This is very popular with customers (ergo my choice to suggest this in "Customer service") and with shop owners.

Cities willing to implement it here in the UK (I imagine there are some... Doncaster should take note) could benefit extraordinarily from it, especially those cities that attract tourists since most English "tourist" cities (e.g. York) shut down at 17:00, with the exception of a handful of restaurants and pubs. Regional economic centres (like the economically depressed Doncaster) could likewise draw more people to them.

The way some Dutch regions do it is to have some cities in a region designate Thursday as their night, and others designate Friday as their night, thus avoiding regional shopping conflicts.