Hour of operations

How it works

A useful line has a start, a separator, an end, and a timezone or a local-clock hint. “09:00–17:00” is a format. “Eight hours” is a duration. A shop can be open eight hours from 10:00 to 18:00 or from 07:00 to 15:00. The hour of operations is the pair, not the subtraction.

Write times the way the door will be read. A 12-hour clock needs a.m. or p.m. on both ends if either could be mixed up: 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. is clear; 9–5 is a slogan. A 24-hour clock needs four digits or a leading zero: 09:00–17:00. Mixing “9:00–17:00” without saying which system you are in is how 5:00 becomes an argument.

Closed is a value. So is 24 hours. “00:00–24:00” and “open 24 hours” both mean the door does not use an overnight close, but only if that is true every day you listed. A store that is 24 hours except Sunday is not a 24-hour store on Sunday. Put the exception on the Sunday line.

Formats that survive a second reader

12-hour with meridians: 10:30 a.m.–9:00 p.m. 24-hour with an en dash: 10:30–21:00 Split shifts: 11:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.–10:00 p.m. Day columns: Mon–Fri 09:00–17:00; Sat 10:00–14:00; Sun closed

Use an en dash or the word “to,” not a hyphen that looks like a minus in a spreadsheet. Name the days. “Weekdays” is Monday–Friday only if you said so; some readers will include Saturday. “Weekend hours” need Saturday and Sunday as two rows if they differ.

Local time is part of the format. A phone number in one zone and a door in another will disagree unless the line says “Eastern Time” or “store local time.” Online order cutoffs can be earlier than the posted close. That is a second hour of operations: last order, not last lock.

If you have to ask whether 9–5 includes the 5, the format already failed. Write 09:00–17:00 and say whether 17:00 still takes a customer.

Holidays, and which clock you mean

Holiday hours are not the weekday row with a festive heading. They are a dated exception. Until a dated line exists, the ordinary week still prints, and it may be wrong. “Regular hours” on a public holiday is a claim you should see in writing for that date.

Opening time is not breakfast time unless the menu says so. Closing time is not last seating if the kitchen closes earlier. When two clocks exist, label both. The hour of operations people search is usually the door. The hour that matters to a reservation is the kitchen.

Overnight closes that pass midnight belong to the opening day in many listings (“Friday 10:00 a.m.–2:00 a.m.” meaning Saturday 02:00). Other listings split at midnight. Pick one convention and keep it, or a Friday night and a Saturday morning will both look closed.