Polish shops and malls open on 30 August for fifth shopping Sunday of 2026

Fifth shopping Sunday of 2026

Commercial outlets and shopping malls across Poland will open on Sunday, 30 August 2026, marking the fifth trading Sunday permitted under national regulations this year. Large supermarket chains and discounters, including Biedronka, Lidl, Auchan, Carrefour, Kaufland, Dino, Netto, and Stokrotka, will operate during the day. Retailers plan to offer promotions covering school supplies, daily necessities, household chemicals, dairy products, meat, and beverages. Prominent retail centres, including Westfield Mokotów and Złote Tarasy in Warsaw, Manufaktura in Łódź, Galeria Krakowska in Kraków, and Galeria Wroclavia in Wrocław, will also open their doors. Store operating hours in shopping centres may be slightly shorter than on regular weekdays, and retail chains advise customers to verify local schedules online before visiting. The trading day arrives on the final weekend of the school summer holiday period, giving consumers an opportunity to make purchases ahead of September.

Three-month pause until December

The trading day on 30 August will be the final opportunity for unrestricted Sunday shopping for more than three months. Under the statutory schedule, six calendar months in 2026 contain no shopping Sundays: February, May, July, September, October, and November. The previous shopping Sunday took place on 28 June 2026, following earlier trading dates on 25 January, 29 March, and 26 April. After 30 August, retail outlets will remain closed on Sundays throughout September, October, and November. Sunday commercial trade will resume only on 6 December 2026, which begins a block of three consecutive shopping Sundays ahead of the Christmas period.

Statutory exemptions and operating rules

Outside designated shopping Sundays, Polish law enforces a broad prohibition on retail trade, subject to 32 specific statutory exceptions. Small convenience stores, including franchised Żabka outlets, are permitted to operate on restricted Sundays provided that the business owner or family members stand behind the counter. Legal exemptions also allow operations at petrol stations, pharmacies, bakeries, ice cream parlours, cafes, florist shops, press kiosks, restaurants, and outlets located at railway stations or airports. Establishments providing postal services may trade only if postal revenue constitutes at least 40% of their overall sales. Retailers violating the Sunday trading ban face financial penalties ranging between 1,000 PLN and 100,000 PLN, while persistent violations can result in penalties involving the restriction of liberty.

Legal framework and holiday amendments

The Sunday retail framework is governed by the Act of 10 January 2018 on the restriction of trade on Sundays, public holidays, and certain other days, which took effect gradually from 1 March 2018. Under the legislation, trading is permitted on the last Sundays of January, April, June, and August, the Sunday directly preceding Easter, and three consecutive Sundays before Christmas. A legislative amendment that took effect on 1 February 2025 made Christmas Eve on 24 December a full day off for all workers, replacing the earlier system where retail employees worked until 14:00. The reform introduced a third December shopping Sunday, setting 2026 trading dates for 6, 13, and 20 December. The amendment established a statutory protection specifying that retail staff cannot work more than two Sundays during December. In late December 2024, President Andrzej Duda referred the legislation on the Christmas Eve holiday to the Constitutional Tribunal under post-enactment review, raising objections to the additional working Sunday for retail employees.