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What little shopping opportunities there are to be found in Katowice are mostly located in the area immediately north of the train station. Like most of 21st-century Poland, many shops are given over to the sale of women's fashion, with more interesting independent enterprises in seriously short supply. In lieu of the small, communist-era malls around the Rynek, Katowice's best collection of shops under one roof is the extraordinary Silesia City Centre; if you can't find what you're looking for there, then you might have to leave PL to get it. That aside, we've made an effort through this section to focus on small local or national businesses you won't find wherever you're from.
Poland's Sunday Shopping Ban
Shops have traditionally had more limited hours on weekends, but since 2018 government regulations have increasingly restricted Sunday trading in Poland in hopes of encouraging citizens to return to a more ‘traditional’ family Sunday. Although phased in gradually, there are now only 7 Sundays in the entire year when shops are allowed to be open. Of course, there are some exemptions from the ban - namely pharmacies, gas stations, kiosks, bakeries, open-air markets, Żabka convenience stores (most of which close at 23:00), souvenir shops (oh thank god), package pick-up points, and any establishment where the owners themselves are behind the counter on Sunday.
Note that the Sunday hours we list for venues are the hours they keep only on those Sundays when trade is allowed.
