Supermarket chain Netto is to become the first in Poland to reduce its opening hours due to soaring energy costs. Dozens of outlets belonging to the Danish discounter – which has 650 locations in Poland – will open for an hour less every day from November.
Depending on the location, shops may close earlier or open later, reports industry news website Wiadomości Handlowe, citing a company spokeswoman.
According to Polish media, other major supermarket chains are not considering such measures for the time being, although they are looking at other cost-saving measures or investments in renewable energy sources.
In September, the Kaufland supermarket chain also decided to bring forward its closing time from 11 p.m. to 10 p.m. in most of its Polish stores. However, the firm said that the decision was not related to energy costs, but followed analysis of the number of customers visiting shops in the evening.
Wiadomości Handlowe, meanwhile, reports that trade unionists at Poland’s biggest discount supermarket chain, Biedronka, are demanding that shops in large cities close at 10 p.m. and in smaller cities at 9 p.m. They argue this is a necessary move due to insufficient staffing and rising energy prices.
Though the firm told Business Insider Polska that “rising raw material and electricity prices pose a huge challenge”, it was not considering changing opening hours yet. The chain says it prefers to install photovoltaics on the roofs of its shops.
“We currently already have around 120 such installations,” said Biedronka, which has nearly 3,300 locations across Poland.
Renata Juszkiewicz, the President of the Polish Organisation of Commerce and Distribution, which is composed of the largest retail chains, told Business Insider that, for the time being, the organisation’s members are not thinking about limiting the working hours of shops.
Instead, they are aiming to lower the intensity of lighting, replace existing lighting with LEDs, and introduce other energy-saving devices. “For the time being, these measures are being taken. Of course, the question remains whether they will be sufficient in the face of the crisis,” she added.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Poland has, like other countries around Europe, faced soaring energy prices. As well as businesses, some local governments and universities have taken measures to reduce consumption in the face of bills that are rising as much as several hundred percent.
The government has also moved to support energy consumers through heating allowances and caps on electricity and coal prices. However, those measures have been aimed at households, public institutions and small and medium businesses, rather than large retail networks.
Cost-saving measures are also being implemented in other European countries. Sky-high energy costs had already prompted discount chain Aldi Nord to reduce the opening hours of its shops in Germany, Business Insider reports.
Main photo credit: Silar/Wikimedia Commons (under CC BY-SA 4.0)
Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.
