Grocery stores will in future be allowed to open from early in the morning until late at night, after parliament voted on Tuesday to liberalise laws governing the issue.
The move was part of the government programme and it was approved by 131 MPs, with 50 voting against the measure. Retailers had long campaigned to be free of laws restricting their opening hours, and they responded quickly to the vote in Parliament.
S Group, which is Finland’s largest food retail group with 45.7 percent of the market in 2014, immediately announced that it would extend opening hours at around 500 Prisma, Sale and S-market stores as soon as the new law came into force at the beginning of 2016. The busiest outlets will be open from 7am until 11pm, with some S-market outlets open 24 hours, according to the S Group statement.
The changes will come into force by the start of February at the latest, and will allow retailers to decide themselves when they are going to open.
This story has been edited for clarity.