Dairy (store)

A dairy is a small owner-operated convenience store in New Zealand, licensed to sell groceries, milk, eggs, dairy products, perishables, newspapers and other staples during and after normal trading hours.

The term dairy came into common usage in New Zealand English to describe small shops by the late 1930s. Perishables such as milk and eggs were formerly delivered to city households from a dairy farm; by the late 1930s, small shops stocked such produce, and the term shifted to describe these shops. In addition to this meaning, New Zealand English retains the common meanings of dairy, referring to milk, milk-derived products and associated industries.

The distinction between dairies, superettes and grocery stores has grown increasingly blurred in New Zealand English, a fact acknowledged by the Liquor Licensing Authority in 1991, and by the Law Commission. Contributing factors to this blurring of meanings include the deregulation of trading shop hours on Sundays, ambiguity over alcohol sales laws (see Sales of alcohol below), and the abolition of restrictions on types of goods permitted to be sold by dairies. The Law Commission summed up the ambiguity as follows:

Traditionally, a dairy was a small shop in a suburban area that sold goods such as butter, milk, bread and confectionery. It was able to trade outside normal trading hours. Today, the term "dairy" has different meanings for different people, and there seem to be fewer dairies in the traditional sense still in operation, although many shops still have "dairy" in their trading name.

Dairies rely on long hours rather than high mark-ups to make money, and are not overly profitable. As small operators, they cannot get bulk discounts that supermarkets get. As dairies must remain open long hours to stay profitable, they are almost always family-run businesses that utilise family members to run the shop. New Zealand introduced the 40-hour working week in 1945, ending Saturday trading hours for most grocers. Dairies were allowed to stay open outside normal working hours and on Saturdays.

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