The holiday is getting closer – Christmas 2023. It’s time to think about your first purchases for these special days for Polish families. Consumers were usually supported by trading on Sundays, enabling larger than usual shopping, targeted at holidays and the gift-giving period. What will it be like this year? Which Sundays will be commercial?
expand >
At the end of the year there is a lot of confusion about trading on Sunday. The parties that are likely to form the government are unlikely to make changes to the regulations this year. The government that administers after dismissal cannot make any changes without the consent of the Sejm. The new government, which is currently formed by the old-new Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, is unlikely to receive a vote of confidence in the Sejm and therefore the possibility of legislative initiative.
The most likely option is that the current legal status will remain the same regarding Sundays with trading or prohibition. This means that there will be full trading only on Sunday, December 17. However, on Christmas Eve Sunday, December 24, shops may be open until 2 p.m.
It is true that the government in power after its resignation submitted a bill to move the shopping Sunday from December 24 to December 10 – for some reason limiting the operation of shops to 2 p.m. – but it is doubtful that the Sejm would pass such a bill.
Besides, it is this government that is causing all the confusion. Without a bit of imagination, the list of shopping Sundays in 2023, of which there are only seven, included Sunday December 24, even though it is Christmas Eve Sunday. On Christmas Eve, and without special legal regulations, even if it falls on a weekday, traders close most stores, and those that count on last-minute customers also have shorter hours.
There was enough time to correct this error, but the government did not use this time.
So what will happen on the next seven Sundays?
November 19, 2023: trading Sunday or Sunday with a trading ban
Next Sunday is on the list of 40 others on which trading is prohibited. Shops at gas stations, flower shops, etc. may be open, but shops employing employees must, in principle, remain closed.
The number of places where we will shop on Sunday, November 19 is therefore limited to small local stores – including some chain stores such as under the Żabka logo – where only the owner works, possibly supported by family members.
Large purchases are available only on Saturday, November 25, or you have the option of postponing your visit to the large store until next week.
Sunday, November 26: what about trade
Next Sunday is on the list of 40 others on which trading is prohibited. Shops at gas stations, flower shops, etc. may be open, but shops employing employees must, in principle, remain closed.
The number of places where we will shop on Sunday, November 19 is therefore limited to small local stores – including some chain stores such as under the Żabka logo – where only the owner works, possibly supported by family members.
Large purchases are available only on Saturday, November 25, or you have the option of postponing your visit to the large store until next week.
November 26 is also not a commercial day.
And this is a terrible solution, even in a legal system where trading on Sundays is generally prohibited. This Sunday is preceded by Black Friday and immediately after that is Cyber Monday – days of sales, promotions and the full pre-Christmas season. Why is it not a shopping Sunday – contrary to all logic and the interests of the state, because the budget lives from taxes, the large opportunity to eliminate them during shopping days is something that cannot be explained from the point of view of rationality.
Sunday, December 3: still a Sunday with a trading ban
The first Sunday in December will be no different. Anyone planning St. Nicholas Day shopping must plan it on weekdays.
Again, there is only the option of urgent or emergency purchases (e.g. unexpected guests) in a local store or at a gas station. Lidl, Biedronka, Stokrotka and other discount stores and supermarkets must remain closed by law on that day.
Sunday, December 10: commercial, but only until 2 p.m. or with a trading ban
And here is the biggest unknown. According to the current legal status, which will most likely not be changed, it will be a Sunday with a trading ban.
And if there are changes, stores will be open until 4 p.m. Although if the Sejm actually takes up such a project of changes to the applicable law, it will also change the shopping Sunday from December 24 to December 10, but with the option of extending the working hours of stores to standard opening hours.
It is certain that the population is and will be huge and many consumers will be misled: they will go shopping and find closed stores, or open stores will wait in vain for customers.
Sunday, December 17: commercial – last in 2023
There is no doubt about that. It will be a shopping Sunday in every detail. In line with the old, present and perhaps future tradition, when the Sunday before Christmas or Easter has always been and is a commercial day.
It’s the best day for any shopping, including groceries, because the time to celebrate is so short that you can buy everything from carp, even long-lasting bread when you need to have it “just in case” because you have your own personal menu we have already crossed them out.
In a word – rejoice consumer soul, there is no prohibition and the Christmas tradition reminds: take a stand and make a stand. On Sunday, December 17, you will perform an act of this tradition of atonement!
Sunday, December 24: with or without trade
As already mentioned, the matter is not settled. The most likely situation is the one currently stipulated in the law, i.e. December 24 is a trading Sunday, but trading is only allowed until 2 p.m.
Even if this does not change, in accordance with Polish tradition, let’s include a day without trading and shopping in our plans. Let the celebration begin in the morning and herald this day with three uninterrupted days of peace from mercantile matters.
Sunday, December 31, 2023: end of the year with a trade ban
Drinks and other products associated with an intoxicating New Year’s Eve must be purchased in advance. On this day, there is the option of shopping on the same terms as on any standard Sunday, which was not included in the list of seven shopping Sundays in 2023.
Therefore, only local stores will be open again, the option of shopping in a gas station store will also remain valid.
You will be able to visit Lidl, Biedronka and similar outlets only on the Tuesday after Christmas, but that will be on January 2 of the new year.
Let’s hope that in advance, without mess, residence and serial amendments to the regulations regarding which Sundays you can and cannot do – make large purchases without checking the Journal of Laws.
2023-11-21 05:59:03
#Shopping #Sundays #trade #ban #Plan #shopping #Sundays #year
