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Change adopted by Supermercados BH in Espírito Santo reduced employee turnover and expanded the debate on Sunday closures in retail, amid hiring difficulties in the sector and the advancement of discussions on work schedules in Brazil.
Pedro Lourenço de Oliveira, known as Pedrinho BH, owner of Supermercados BH, began advocating for the closure of large chains on Sundays as a strategy to reduce employee turnover and make food retail more attractive to workers at a time of hiring difficulties in the sector.
The discussion gained momentum after the 44 units of the chain in Espírito Santo stopped operating on Sundays, on March 1st, following a state collective agreement signed the previous year.
According to the businessman, the first effects of the change quickly appeared in the work environment and in the company’s internal indicators.
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According to the chain, employee turnover dropped by 10% after adopting the Sunday break in the state.
In Pedrinho BH’s assessment, the model can also help address a recurring problem in food retail: the difficulty in hiring and retaining workers in operational roles, especially in areas that require constant physical presence in stores.
“My struggle here in Minas is to bring this schedule here.
My dream is for every store to close on Sundays, which would be good for everyone,” the businessman told Folha de S.Paulo.
Furthermore, he stated that the schedule “could be permanent.”
Closure of supermarkets on Sundays enters the labor debate
While the National Congress discusses changes related to the workday and the 6×1 schedule, the Sunday closure of supermarkets has also started to gain traction among businesspeople and retail representatives.
Despite advocating for a fixed break on Sundays, Pedrinho BH distinguishes between this model and broader proposals for reducing work hours without operational flexibility.
According to the businessman, the need to hire more employees to cover schedules could increase costs and pressure the prices passed on to consumers.
In this scenario, hiring difficulties appear as one of the main arguments used by the supermarket chain to advocate for changes in store operations.
Currently, Supermercados BH reports having about 4,000 open positions, unable to fill all the available posts in its operations.
Roles such as butcher, stocker, and other customer service positions remain heavily dependent on in-person labor, which keeps managing schedules as one of the sector’s biggest challenges.
Supermercados BH wants to take the model to Minas Gerais
Although the Sunday closure is only in effect in Espírito Santo, Pedrinho BH states that he intends to advocate for the adoption of the same format in Minas Gerais, the company’s main market.
Even so, any change depends on collective bargaining and understanding between companies and union representatives.
In the case of Espírito Santo, the change was made possible through a state collective agreement, a mechanism used to establish specific rules between workers and employers in the sector.
Normally, this type of agreement considers regional characteristics of the labor market, in addition to the operational needs of the companies involved.
For representatives of the food retail sector, working on Sundays has become one of the main obstacles to attracting new professionals, especially in roles that require high physical effort and less predictable schedules.
As a result, the fixed Sunday off began to be seen by part of the sector as a competitive advantage in an attempt to reduce resignation requests and improve employee retention.
Even so, the national adoption of supermarkets closed on Sundays does not depend solely on the isolated decision of large retail chains.
Issues related to labor legislation, regional competition, consumer habits, and union agreements continue to directly influence this type of operational decision.
Purchase of DMA expands Supermercados BH’s presence
The debate on work schedules is happening precisely at the moment when Supermercados BH is advancing in another stage of expansion in the Brazilian food retail sector.
On April 28, 2026, the company signed an agreement to purchase DMA Distribuidora, responsible for the EPA and Mineirão Atacarejo brands.
It still depends on Cade’s approval, however, the operation could form a group with around 600 stores spread across Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, Bahia, and Pernambuco.
Today, Supermercados BH already appears as the fourth largest supermarket chain in the country in revenue, increasing its relevance in discussions involving labor relations and unit operations.
If the integration is completed, the company should further strengthen its regional presence and increase its share in the national supermarket market.
At the same time, the company’s growth amplifies the impacts that operational changes can have on employees, consumers, suppliers, and competitors in different states.
Neighborhood commerce and delivery reduce the impact of closure
In the assessment of sector representatives, the closure of large supermarkets on Sundays may have a smaller impact today than it would have in previous decades.
This happens because bakeries, neighborhood markets, convenience stores, and delivery apps have started to occupy an important part of weekend consumption.
Additionally, many families have begun to concentrate larger purchases during weekdays or on Saturdays, leaving Sunday reserved for smaller acquisitions and emergency situations.
Such behaviors have reduced the dependence on large chains open throughout the weekend, altering part of the traditional dynamics of food retail.
On the other hand, consumers who work regular business hours may still face fewer options for making weekly purchases if supermarkets stop operating on Sundays.
This point continues to appear in discussions among companies, unions, and customers during debates about changes in operating schedules.
According to the network, the experience adopted in Espírito Santo will continue to be used as a reference for future negotiations in other states.
In this context, the reported result of a 10% decrease in turnover reinforces the business argument that a Sunday break can help improve employee retention.
Despite this, the sector is still awaiting new data to measure impacts related to sales, operational costs, job creation, and customer service.
So far, the case of Espírito Santo continues to function as a regional test of a change that Pedrinho BH intends to advocate on a broader scale within the Brazilian supermarket retail sector.
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