Christmas Eve is one of the busiest days for businesses around the world. With shoppers rushing from store to store to buy the perfect gift for their loved ones, December 24 is one money-making day no entrepreneur should miss.
Gary Grant, owner of The Entertainer toy store in the UK, however, announced that his business will be closed on Christmas Eve, which is a Sunday. A practicing Christian, he stands firm in his belief of keeping the Sabbath holy, reports Premier.
Grant disclosed that it was not easy to put God first before business, but he had made his priorities clear from the start.
“As a Christian, I believe in families – I have my own children, I have six grandchildren. Being able to have one day that we can meet together, we can eat together and stay together as a family, I think is very important.”
The spokesman for DreamToys added that he felt the Lord said to him, “Gary, just be closed on a Sunday.”
A well-established company in the UK, The Entertainer owns over 130 toy stores locally and has additional stores abroad. It has 1,500 employees and has generated a revenue of about $183m last year. Aside from selling myriads of branded toys, the company is known for spotting the latest toy craze and releasing the annual DreamToys list, The Telegraph reports.
Grant practices three values in his business: reputation, integrity, and generosity, or “RIG.”
“Guard your reputation, put it before all else. Reputations take a long time to gain and are lost very quickly,” he said.
He added that companies face serious problems due to some top officials behaving unethically and dropping integrity in running the business just to make profit.
The Entertainer stores organize fundraising activities and even has their own charity budgets. “There are huge needs in society and there’s a responsibility from business leaders to make sure that we put something back into areas where we take money out,” shared Grant.
Sources:
Premier
The Telegraph
