As I have been settling into my new apartment, I have been doing a lot of shopping. While the apartment I rent was furnished, I have needed to supplement the things it came with (dishes, pots/pans, etc) and want to personalize it a bit. I have needed to stock my kitchen with things to cook, I need to get my work clothes cleaned occasionally, and, as I would like to blend in a bit with the locals I have started buying some clothes also.
This is all notable because my thoughts about shopping in former communist countries are tainted by what I learned when I was growing up and as the cold war continued into my adult years. I remember a college professor I had (who had escaped from East Germany) telling the class what things were like there. She explained that, when walking down the street, if you saw a line outside a store you joined it. It didn't matter what they were selling, you bought one whether you needed it or not. If you don't want it, you can sell it to someone or trade it for something you do want. And, of course, there was this Wendy's commercial from the 80s (a favorite of mine) that spoke to the common American view of the communist world.
Well, Poland has not been a communist country for 25 years and things have changed a bit. To quote the Lonely Planet travel guide, it is "a case of goodbye Marx, hello Marks & Spencer". There are two malls within easy walking distance of my apartment, and a third is an easy tram ride away. There are two supermarkets around the corner from me, numerous fruit and vegetable stands and the aformentioned Alkoholes. It seems that every block has a pharmacy and an eyeglass store. Unlike New York there are still bookstores everywhere. And, as I mentioned in my last post, there are the flower sellers everywhere.
As with everything, there are small differences between the shopping here and what I am used to. The first thing I confronted on my first trip to a drug store was the lack of bags. The EU had been pushing its member states to reduce the number of plastic bags in circulation so you normally don't get one unless you ask for one - and pay for it. I notice that in clothing stores, wine shops and other places where you pay more money they tend to give you one but in supermarkets and other shops you either bring your own or pay for what you need. I had been trying to do that in New York but only after I built up a supply to burn through. To avoid building up a surplus, I now tend to carry a bag with me whenever I go out in case I need to pick something up.
Then there is the idea of going to a mall to do grocery shopping. Every mall here seems to have a supermarket as an anchor tenant. While I have several to choose from near my apartment, the Carrefour supermarket at the nearby mall is Wal Mart sized and better for bigger shopping trips. You have to dodge the mall rats when heading out with your stuff but one gets used to that.
The malls themselves are pretty nice (I suppose they have not been around long enough to get run down) and have some features that I found interesting. Most seem to have a coat check, dry cleaners, and currency exchange kiosks. In addition to a food court, the ones I have been to have several full service restaurants, some with outdoor seating areas. There biggest gym near me is at a mall and is next to a pierogi restaurant (I am not sure to what extent they hurt each others business). While in Poznan (a city halfway between here and Berlin) I went to a huge mall in what had been a brewery that had art exhibits in some of the open areas.
Another interesting thing - good for convenience, but maybe not so good for stores' profit margins - is that the stores tend to be clustered together by type. If you need sneakers, the Adidas store, the Nike store and the big sports-clothing-and-equipment store are next to or across from each other. One open air shopping center in Warsaw has an entire mall with nothing but home furnishing stores.
The larger supermarkets can be overwhelming. I have seen entire aisles dedicated to bottled water, kielbasa or vodka. They are big enough that someone drives around in a zamboni to clean the floors. The Carrefour near me has a McDonald's inside.
One thing that took no getting used to is Ikea. On stepping into the store closer to me (Warsaw has two!) I appreciated part of the key to their success. If it weren't for the language on the signs, I would have sworn I was in their store in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The layout is identical, the Swedish meatballs taste the same and I think the music was the same also. There are subtle differences in merchandising (there are not king/queen/double/twin bed sizes, for example) but, like McDonald's, you know exactly what you are getting no matter which store you enter.
Because Poland is a member of the European Union, goods from other member countries are readily available. As I have already mentioned, Carrefour (France), Marks & Spencer (UK) and Ikea (Sweden) have a significant presence here. But other stores have good variety also. The wine selection ranges from all over the world, there are "specialty" sections in supermarkets (and entire shops) dedicated to cooking staples from other countries, and I have seen vegetable stands that indicate the country their produce comes from.
The old communist-era things have not yet disappeared, though. Also near me is Hala Mirowska, an old marketplace that takes me back to Armenia whenever I go there. It is a pair of beautiful old buildings with two supermarkets inside, but also including (and surrounded by) stalls where you can buy meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, individual eggs, spices, loose dry goods by the kilo, clothing, household goods and pretty much anything else you need.
Going there is an exercise in competitive shopping, where people seem to have their favored vendors and little patience for people not as intent on their shopping as they are. I love it there, but how could you not love a place with multiple stalls selling nothing other than several varieties of cole slaw?
There are also people who have less formal "shops", whether it is someone selling strawberries out of the back of his car, the man selling socks from a table next to a bus stop, the couple selling all sorts of household items in a space adjacent to a local supermarket, the woman selling honey in the archway of a building arcade or the family with a produce stand that sets up outside my building every day. Sometimes I don't feel like walking to the mall and also want to throw some business to the little guy, plus I like to think the vegetables are a bit fresher.
So, other than the early closing hours of a lot of places that I mentioned in my last post, there is little to prevent you from getting almost anything you want when you want it - and the malls and Alkoholes are there for later hour needs. And no matter when it is, you can get flowers.
And as I mentioned before, things are a lot cheaper here, so there is more and more to buy. But that is a topic for a later day.
======================
A Side Trip to Montenegro
In the category of Another Sweet Business Trip, I spent a few days recently in Montenegro, a country that was formerly part of Yugoslavia. Herewith a couple of pictures and a hearty recommendation of Montenegro as a very nice place to visit.
This is all notable because my thoughts about shopping in former communist countries are tainted by what I learned when I was growing up and as the cold war continued into my adult years. I remember a college professor I had (who had escaped from East Germany) telling the class what things were like there. She explained that, when walking down the street, if you saw a line outside a store you joined it. It didn't matter what they were selling, you bought one whether you needed it or not. If you don't want it, you can sell it to someone or trade it for something you do want. And, of course, there was this Wendy's commercial from the 80s (a favorite of mine) that spoke to the common American view of the communist world.
Well, Poland has not been a communist country for 25 years and things have changed a bit. To quote the Lonely Planet travel guide, it is "a case of goodbye Marx, hello Marks & Spencer". There are two malls within easy walking distance of my apartment, and a third is an easy tram ride away. There are two supermarkets around the corner from me, numerous fruit and vegetable stands and the aformentioned Alkoholes. It seems that every block has a pharmacy and an eyeglass store. Unlike New York there are still bookstores everywhere. And, as I mentioned in my last post, there are the flower sellers everywhere.
As with everything, there are small differences between the shopping here and what I am used to. The first thing I confronted on my first trip to a drug store was the lack of bags. The EU had been pushing its member states to reduce the number of plastic bags in circulation so you normally don't get one unless you ask for one - and pay for it. I notice that in clothing stores, wine shops and other places where you pay more money they tend to give you one but in supermarkets and other shops you either bring your own or pay for what you need. I had been trying to do that in New York but only after I built up a supply to burn through. To avoid building up a surplus, I now tend to carry a bag with me whenever I go out in case I need to pick something up.
Then there is the idea of going to a mall to do grocery shopping. Every mall here seems to have a supermarket as an anchor tenant. While I have several to choose from near my apartment, the Carrefour supermarket at the nearby mall is Wal Mart sized and better for bigger shopping trips. You have to dodge the mall rats when heading out with your stuff but one gets used to that.
The malls themselves are pretty nice (I suppose they have not been around long enough to get run down) and have some features that I found interesting. Most seem to have a coat check, dry cleaners, and currency exchange kiosks. In addition to a food court, the ones I have been to have several full service restaurants, some with outdoor seating areas. There biggest gym near me is at a mall and is next to a pierogi restaurant (I am not sure to what extent they hurt each others business). While in Poznan (a city halfway between here and Berlin) I went to a huge mall in what had been a brewery that had art exhibits in some of the open areas.
Another interesting thing - good for convenience, but maybe not so good for stores' profit margins - is that the stores tend to be clustered together by type. If you need sneakers, the Adidas store, the Nike store and the big sports-clothing-and-equipment store are next to or across from each other. One open air shopping center in Warsaw has an entire mall with nothing but home furnishing stores.
The larger supermarkets can be overwhelming. I have seen entire aisles dedicated to bottled water, kielbasa or vodka. They are big enough that someone drives around in a zamboni to clean the floors. The Carrefour near me has a McDonald's inside.
One thing that took no getting used to is Ikea. On stepping into the store closer to me (Warsaw has two!) I appreciated part of the key to their success. If it weren't for the language on the signs, I would have sworn I was in their store in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The layout is identical, the Swedish meatballs taste the same and I think the music was the same also. There are subtle differences in merchandising (there are not king/queen/double/twin bed sizes, for example) but, like McDonald's, you know exactly what you are getting no matter which store you enter.
Because Poland is a member of the European Union, goods from other member countries are readily available. As I have already mentioned, Carrefour (France), Marks & Spencer (UK) and Ikea (Sweden) have a significant presence here. But other stores have good variety also. The wine selection ranges from all over the world, there are "specialty" sections in supermarkets (and entire shops) dedicated to cooking staples from other countries, and I have seen vegetable stands that indicate the country their produce comes from.
The old communist-era things have not yet disappeared, though. Also near me is Hala Mirowska, an old marketplace that takes me back to Armenia whenever I go there. It is a pair of beautiful old buildings with two supermarkets inside, but also including (and surrounded by) stalls where you can buy meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, individual eggs, spices, loose dry goods by the kilo, clothing, household goods and pretty much anything else you need.
 |
| Hala Mirowska |
 |
| Hala Mirowska II |
 |
| One of the many produce sellers |
There are also people who have less formal "shops", whether it is someone selling strawberries out of the back of his car, the man selling socks from a table next to a bus stop, the couple selling all sorts of household items in a space adjacent to a local supermarket, the woman selling honey in the archway of a building arcade or the family with a produce stand that sets up outside my building every day. Sometimes I don't feel like walking to the mall and also want to throw some business to the little guy, plus I like to think the vegetables are a bit fresher.
So, other than the early closing hours of a lot of places that I mentioned in my last post, there is little to prevent you from getting almost anything you want when you want it - and the malls and Alkoholes are there for later hour needs. And no matter when it is, you can get flowers.
And as I mentioned before, things are a lot cheaper here, so there is more and more to buy. But that is a topic for a later day.
======================
A Side Trip to Montenegro
In the category of Another Sweet Business Trip, I spent a few days recently in Montenegro, a country that was formerly part of Yugoslavia. Herewith a couple of pictures and a hearty recommendation of Montenegro as a very nice place to visit.
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