Among the grocery chains, all of Penny and Lidl's stores will be closed on December 24, Spar will also keep most of its own stores closed, with the exception of shopping centers, similarly to the drugstore chain Rossmann, and the home furnishing stores of JYSK and Diego will not open either.
However, in the preceding days, shops will typically be waiting for customers with longer opening hours.
The management of Penny Market Kft., having examined the interests of its employees and customers, decided to keep its 230 stores in Hungary uniformly closed between December 24 and 26.
On December 22 and 23, the store chain will be waiting for customers with extended opening hours until 10 p.m., and from December 27 they will be open during normal business hours. The chain currently operates 230 stores, 3 logistics centers and employs almost 5,000 employees in Hungary.
Lidl Hungary has also indicated that all 200 of their stores will be closed on December 24. In a statement sent to MTI, the company referred to the importance of the family when they decided to give all 8,500 employees a day off for the holiday of love. They also keep in mind the interests of their customers, who are expected to have extended opening hours on December 23.
Spar Hungary has announced that, in order to observe the Christmas holidays calmly and peacefully, a significant part of its self-operated stores will be closed on December 24, with the exception of INTERSPARs and SPAR and City SPAR supermarkets in some shopping centers.
INTERSPAR hypermarkets, as well as SPAR and City SPAR supermarkets in some shopping centers, will be open until 12 noon on December 24, so employees who will work on that day will receive 100 percent overtime pay. The franchise stores - SPAR partner, SPAR market - as well as units located at filling stations - OMV-SPAR express, Orlen-DESPAR - decide on their opening hours.
Among the food chains, Aldi Hungary, as in previous years, will keep all its stores open until 12 noon on December 24 this year. As in previous years, 75 percent of the store chain's employees in Hungary will have their rest day on December 24 this year, and the operation of the 171 stores is ensured by a quarter of the employees, who receive overtime compensation in accordance with the legislation. Their stores will be open 1 hour longer than usual on December 22 and 23, but until 10 p.m. at most.
Rossmann announced on the company's website that it will provide a day off for its employees on December 24, so more than 200 of their stores will be closed on this day. They added that negotiations are underway with the shopping centers where mandatory opening hours also apply to Rossmann stores, and the company is confident that they will be able to keep them closed here as well.
All 94 Hungarian stores of the Danish home furnishing retail chain JYSK will be closed on December 24. JYSK stores have been closed for Christmas nationwide since 2018, i.e. for the sixth year this year, the company announced.
The entire Hungarian store network of the Hungarian-owned Diego will be closed on December 24 and 31. The company informed that this year, their franchise partners operating home furnishing stores made a unanimous decision to close, while in previous years, nearly 80 Hungarian family businesses operating Diego's 100 stores in Hungary decided individually.
MTI
Featured image: MTI / Attila Balázs
