Simon Holovnia and his political group are calling for the restoration of 2 trade Sundays a month, which has been met with concern from the shopkeepers. They feel that specified a decision will be a severe blow to them, which any tiny shops may not survive. The shopkeeper expressed his concerns in an interview with the WP, saying, “If the business Sundays come back, I am completely in the back.” The legitimate question at this point is: Why is there no talk about beginning public administration offices on Saturdays and Sundays? Since the Holovnia and its organization so much want to return to trade on Sunday, justifying the right to freedom, the same right to freedom must be guaranteed to citizens to have access to administrative offices.
The issue of changes to the ban on trade on Sunday returns to the foreground. The Polish organization 2050, led by Marshal Szymon Hołownia, announced the restoration of 2 Sundays working in the month. During the election gathering in Białystok, Hołownia emphasized that his group would effort to negociate with the coalitions on a draft trade bill on Sundays, which assumes 2 trade Sundays a month. The Left expressed opposition to this solution.
Lega artis AppDo entrepreneurs want to relax the ban?
The erstwhile government focused mainly on social aspects during communication on restrictions on trade on Sundays, emphasising free time for trade workers who could spend with their family. For this reason, it seemed that average workers were gaining at the expense of business. However, talks with tiny entrepreneurs operating shops propose that this painting begins to change slightly.
Shopkeepers express concern about Simon Holownia's declarations
The entrepreneurs with whom we have held talks express concerns about the announcements of Marshal Holownia and the way the full ruling coalition will make decisions on this matter. Tomasz, 1 of our interlocutors, who operates 4 shops in the south of Poland, 2 of which are open on Sundays, accepted the announcement of changes with large concern.
If commercial Sundays come back, I'm totally in the back," says the entrepreneur.
The entrepreneur states that due to the ban on trade he is able to gain as much on 1 working Sunday as on 3 standard working days.
In the week, shops make money and workers. Sundays let me to make a profit in this hard situation. 1 Sunday he does 3 average days – explains the shopkeeper in a conversation with WP Finance.
According to him, making a profit is truly difficult, especially erstwhile the prices of articles specified as butter or wholesale milk are higher than in popular discounts.
The client will go to Ladybug or Lidel, buy the butter cheaper there and he will remember that it is inexpensive there – the entrepreneur regrets.
The entrepreneur stresses that he cannot realize where any politicians believe that tiny businesses want to loosen the ban on trade on Sunday. According to him, the most crucial thing for shopkeepers is more severe punishment of entities that violate regulations.
If Mr. Holown's plan comes into effect, the biggest corporations will benefit, the remainder will lose. Even Polish smaller networks can't do it, due to the fact that they can't afford days on Sundays – says Tomasz.
According to Mr. Krzysztof, owner of 1 store in Olsztyn, an additional Sunday now simply adds 1 day's work for most shopkeepers, while any changes will benefit only large players who already have a dominant position on the market.
At first, erstwhile the trade ban was introduced on Sunday, the traffic in the stores was larger. Now Poles have learned to store bigger on Saturdays, but it is inactive at least 1 more day of trade per week for tiny shops – Krzysztof recalls in an interview with WP Finance.
According to data straight stating, the tiny trade sector in Poland is in a immense crisis. In the meantime, there is simply a increasing number of discounts that further compete with each another by offering promotions. VAT on food will shortly return, but Lidl and Aldi have already announced that they do not plan to increase prices.
Small enterprises do not have specified opportunities. Mr. Thomas sometimes urges another store owners to fight more aggressively for customers. Unfortunately, in their case the area for manoeuvre is much smaller than for giants. The announcements of changes to the ban on trade pose another threat to tiny entrepreneurs.
It is worth noting that the Polish Chamber of Commerce (PIH) does not support the initiative presented by Poland 2050, which suggests the introduction of 2 trade Sundays per month.
Poland 2050 introduced a bill to the Sejm, which assumes the restoration of 2 commercial Sundays in the month. The Polish Chamber of Commerce, the widest representation of trade in Poland, does not support this initiative. As regards trade Sundays, most micro, tiny and medium-sized entrepreneurs in the trade industry, including those associated with the Polish Chamber of Commerce, accept the current position quo, as stated in the Communication.
Price war hits tiny trade
Small trade is fading. According to newshandlowe.pl, although the number of tiny grocery stores is higher than others, of 60,000 (which accounts for 75% of all establishments), they are liable for 1 3rd of the trade in the country.
According to NielsienIQ, which the portal refers to, in 2023 discounts accounted for as much as 43.7% of food sales in Poland in terms of value. Disconts recorded an increase of 2.2 percent points compared to the erstwhile year.
The deficiency of mitigation of the ban on trade on Sunday makes corporate discounts force not only tiny shops, but besides supermarkets, to clear the area. Price wars have a bearing on that. Andrzej Gantner from the Polish Federation of Food Producers of the Union of Employers noted this fact during the discussion with the HR.
You can see that the competitive advantage of large stores, which is the consequence of scale, is increasing. The nets treat their stores as a whole, so in 1 place they'll cut down, in another they'll catch up. The unit cost of a large store in specified a case is much lower than a tiny store per unit of sale – Gantner said in a conversation with WP Finance.
According to his assessment, customers will announcement an even greater difference in prices, which may consequence in another group of customers moving towards larger shops with a larger format.
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