Plaza - Open but not finished!

The exterior of Plaza

The main atrium inside Plaza

The huge queue for Media Expert

The queue snakes along through Plaza

You're not going to mess with these security guards!

Plaza - the eagerly awaited new shopping centre has just opened its doors to the Toruń public. To be honest, it is a bit of a disapointment. Builders are still visibly working on the last minute finishing touches and only about 50% of the shops are actually open at the moment and the ones which are (e.g. C&A, Reserved, H&M, Home&You, etc) already have shops elsewhere in Toruń. There is also a brand new cinema...but it's also Cinema City which also already exists here! The only new additions worth getting excited about were the arrival of Subway and Zara to town!

As you can also see from the photos Media Expert were offering huge discounts on their electronic goods...which resulted in mass queues. Poland has become a consumer-hungry nation like everywhere else!

Suppose we will have to wait until late next year to get excited when the new Solaris shopping centre opens - complete with Marks & Spencer and Burger King!

The Great Big...CON!

So the turkey/carp has been eaten, the cakes all devoured and the vodka all drank. So what do we do now? Enjoy the New Year's sales of course. Except...here in Poland it really is VERY difficult to find a true bargain. Most shops advertise sales but deliver nothing at all. Take the Polish fashion chain 'Reserved' for example. We went in there today. As you can see clearly from the photo...these jumpers are marked 50% off (no 'from 50%' nonsense). Except there were no sale labels on the said jumpers. So we took one to the cashier...who confirmed verbally that indeed it was half price. I asked him to tell me the actual sale price...so he scanned it. Low and behold...it was still the original price of 119PLN!! No apology nothing. We told him that it was very misleading and that the sign should be removed. He agreed but simply said it was an order from the top. Well...we'll soon see to that. As a letter is currently heading it's way to the 'top'!! Reserved Head Office that is! ;-)