Some of the shelves at my local biedronka were literally empty - just one day off ....
It's the same in Ireland when there's a Bank Holiday, you'd swear they were expecting the Siege of Krishnapur! (It's a satirical novel about the four month siege of a fictional British garrison in colonial India where the inhabitants are reduced to eating beetles :)) I don't mind a few times a year for public holidays but twice or three times a month is a bit much. Siege mentality shopping I mean, not eating beetles :D
shelves at my local biedronka were literally empty - just one day off ....
This is a remnant of the collective trauma of trying to shop during the communist period (esp mid to late 70s through 1988). Buying food was an exhausting ordeal and meant standing in long lines every single day (or going the more expensive private route or black marketish or underground trade networks). People that grew up with that pass the siege mentality to their children. As I always say, closed stores make Polish people very nervous.
Partly this is the result of communist incompetence (communism in practice fossilizes and institutionalizes incompetence that could never survive otherwise) and partly the general communist aversion to 'over production' (thanks to which we can find things when we need them rather than call a friend of a friend of a cousin who can get his hands on towels (which haven't been in stores for three years).
That said, this law is abou 17th on the list of things to go after PiS for, you could even make the case that regular days without shopping (and the world not coming to an end) is the best way to ease people off the trauma.
Very informative Maf. Thanks for that. Sadly it makes a lot of sense, but still doesn't explain how Poles would willingly bow to a dictatorial decision such as this though - Atch having stated that nowt was spoken as a manifesto about this.
Not that the lack of a mention in the election manifesto has stopped PIS from implementing a whole raft of dumb measures...
The family life of many Polish households will start to thrive which result in less divorces, less broken families and more happiness for adults and especially children :-)
The problem is how the sexpats or LBH(LOOSERS BACK HOME)will get there piwo?One of the 2 words most of them learn living in Poland for decades.other being TAAXI!
@mafketis @Atch Yeah, I guess so. Just like carp at Lidl ... @Wulkan Or a lot of families will break up because they will have to actually start talking to one another. ;) @Dougpol1 I like your attitude! I can't wait to see you take action! !!
What is the best way to diffuse an argument at home ? Tell the wife to call some friends and go shopping. Or alternatively go out yourself to Media Markt and try some new gadgets.
Of course the priests that this law is intended to please no nothing about wives and kids.
And the hundreds of thousands of summer tourists who self cater couldn't buy food on a Sunday, or fill their boots with booze. Ridiculous nonsense, and you really couldn't make it up.
I've thought about this some more. The whole 'Sunday closing' was a knee-jerk reaction to the previous plan. The plan was to tax very heavily all supermarkets or hypermarkets based on the usable occupied space (i.e. square meters of the shop). The present Government counted on the fact that they would get a lot of money in taxes for this, however, the EU forbade this (or said 'no' to this plan). Something else had to be done and in order to save face, the Government believed that if they 'closed the big shops' on Sunday then this action in turn would result in lower profits for the stores as they would lose the Sunday trading. This has not happened.
But it has. For traders like Leroy Merlin and Castorama the losses are unsustainable. It doesn't take a bright spark to realise that Poland is still poor, and hence people have no leverage to take the time during the week to do such shopping as they can in Germany for example, where the working week is shorter and people are richer. The amount of money people have in the bank dictates whether they are likely to say to the boss "I just have to go out for an hour to buy some bathroom fittings..."
This nonsense of Sunday closing to offer your soul to the Lord simply makes more worldly matters much more difficult for a lot of people , when I am sure you would agree we elect our representatives to actually make our lives better.
The shops are open this Sunday......JIT. Lol. Closed last Sunday - with the obvious results. Internet shopping is up, and a lot of retail space is poised to pull out of Poland in the New Year. According to my source, and he is the CEO of a top 50 company, and probably not a BS.
Dougpol1.....The amount of money people have in the bank dictates whether they are likely to say to the boss "I just have to go out for an hour to buy some bathroom fittings..."
The amount of money people have in their bank acounts does of course dictate what they can buy....however when they do their shopping is another issue....how long in general do people have for their lunch breaks..enough for some people to return home for lunch so why not use this time to do shopping or after work.....maybe the problem is with the amount of time employers give employees for their lunch breaks.....perhaps it is a employment law issue that needs to be looked into..... In any event Sunday opening for many people is very useful...perhaps not for the people working on Sundays but then again they should be paid more for Sunday work...if not then again employment law needs to be looked at.....
One issue I have noticed recently are Tesco stores which appear to be rapidly going downhill will little choice of products, poor staffing, bad customer service..miserable looking aisles....etc...Tesco stores just do not represent the model of how they should look and I get the feeling that Tesco is planning to pull out of Poland.....
I'm extremely organized (with a z) but with work, young kids who need taking to sports and music and doctors, old relatives to look after and a farm to take care of then one extra day to go to shops is kinda nice. In the week it is almost impossible to go shopping with the whole family.
Yesterday every shop was rammed and it was bucketing with rain so all round a miserable experience. What is wrong with giving people choice ? If you want to go to church on Sunday then go. I go myself but would often go to a mall later in the day.
for shopping? I thought it is all about those who would have to spend that day in work without that choice/ One out of seven. If you cannot make it six days in the row what makes you think you would on the seventh? You run a business right? You should know what I'm talking about. Would be kind of nice if you did.
But there are plenty of people who work on Sunday - police, tram drivers, waitresses, people in gas stations, mcdonalds, parking attendants, priests etc. why not give them a day off too ?
when I was younger I often worked on Sunday and it never bothered me much - was a way of putting food on the table
If you ever visited a store here you would know that at least half the weekend staff are students or Ukrainians who like the extra cash
I was just out cycling with my son - I noticed that on this niedziela handlowe every store had a full parking lot.
Sure, but shopping malls are not one of those commodifies that people cannot get without.. anyhow I think most of not every European country has some regulation when it comes to shopping on Sundays. Poland just follow suit. I would think those who support EU wouldn't be so rejecting it so harshly.
It is nothing to do with the EU - what other countries do is their choice, there is no EU law on opening hours. In this region then I think it's only Slovenia that bans Sunday trading, Hungary tried but it only lasted a year because it was so unpopular.
In Poland I think about 40 percent of people support the ban - next year there will be no Sunday's open so that number might go down.
Sunday opening is all about making the lives of people in Poland a positive and useful occasion to do shopping when their weekly demands be it work, children, holidays etc continue to deplete their time. Whether Sunday opening is a success in Poland I am not sure but it seems to me that it will benefit most people as it does in other European countries. It could be said that there are too many supermarkets around and perhaps by reducing the number and investing into what remains will make them an attractive shopping experience for shoppers. In turn people are more likely to spend money on wider ranges of products than you could find elsewhere. Yes cost is a key factor but when a shop provides a wide range of goods, there is a likelyhood of paying a higher price....but this is all to do with choice...
Supermarkets seem to be spread too thinly and it is noticable that some are losing their gloss and need some serious investment to make them attractive to people as well as providing a greater choice of products. .......and yes a simple coat of paint for some of these buildings or any building for that matter does actually make a difference to the people living in that area and for those people who choose to visit that area....there are too many tardy and tired looking buildings/supermarkets around which would benefit for a simple lick of paint....this would create a degree of attractiveness to the area and encourage more people to use supermarkets/shops in addition to creating a sense of pride in their surroundings....
There will always be people against this idea but at the end of the day people can choose to go shopping on Sundays or not. It is good for business and of course the people who have little time during the week to go shopping. Yes it is a shame that staff have to work on Sundays but I am sure there are plenty who are happy with the extra money......and if one of the arguments is that staff don't receive additional money then that is another issue which needs to be taken up with whoever is responsible for agreeing realistic wages and conditions of work, in accordance with employment law....it is not a reason for stopping Sunday opening.
In my opinion the actual concept of Sunday shopping is perfectly proper and provides a choice which in turn will improve the lives of people who have busy lives. Choice is one important factor which drives an economy, encouraging sensible spending, gets money moving around and creates a general feel good atmosphere amongst shoppers.
Sorry mate, but if you are so disorganised in your life that you need to shop on a Sunday, then I cannot help you. You need urgent psychiatric help.....
