Several malls to be open despite Sunday trade ban

Despite the upcoming Sunday retail trade ban, several outlets have announced that they will be open on the first Sunday under the new ban on March 11. Among them are the shopping malls owned by Unibail-Radamco, which include Arkadia and Galeria Mokotów. “We hope that tenants conducting business, which the ban does not directly affect, will leave their premises open to customers,” Unibail-Radamco wrote in an e-mail to its tenants. The ban excludes such business as restaurants, gyms, pharmacies, kiosks, and cinemas, which according to the aforementioned e-mail, should be open on Sunday. The mall management did not mention regular shops being open on that day, although technically it is possible, owners can still stand behind the counter and serve customers on Sunday, however it is hard to imagine a large shopping area being operated just by one person. Still, smaller shops, like those in the Marywilska shopping complex in Warsaw have already announced they will be open on March 11. Owners of some 500 stores located there (out of 1,300) have said they will open their shops and handle the business themselves.