Holiday and Shopping Info Public Holidays 2014 Out-of-hours shopping |
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Penguin'sBerlin Guidefor vistors and residentsberlin.barwick.de & blog |
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Out-of-hours shoppingIt's Sunday and all you have in the kitchen is half a portion of spaghetti and a decrepit tomato. It's 9pm on a weekday evening and you need baby food? You just got out of work with a long shopping list from your spouse - and realised the shop workers are leaving for the evening too? Fear not: Berlin may not be a 24 hour shopping paradise, but if you know where to look you can find a lot of stuff outside of the usual opening hours (generally 8am or 9am to between 8pm and 10pm Monday to Saturday). GeneralIn areas with a high Turkish population such as Kreuzberg, Neukölln, Moabit, Wedding and northern Schöneberg around theHauptstrasse many smaller stores are open on an ad-hoc basis outside of regular opening hours. In recent years a number of small stores run by Vietnamese or Chinese families have sprung up; these too are open at more useful times, often into the early hours of the morning. You'll need to scour your neighborhood to see what's open when. Note that prices in these shops are usually somewhat higher than in normal stores. Bakeries (Bäckereien) can open as early as 6am and are generally open on Sunday mornings, or all day if there's a cafe attached. Some bakeries also stock a small selection of essential items such as milk, though this will be more expensive than usual. Gasoline stations / petrol stations (Tankstellen) often have small shops with a range of essential goods at premium prices. These are somewhat rare in the centre of Berlin though. Some are open 24 hours, but during the night you may have to order what you want through the window. Video rental shops and internet cafés also stock a small range of items, typically snacks and alchohol at premium prices. SupermarketsSeveral stations have proper supermarkets with a full range of products at normal prices:
Several "normal" supermarkets are now experimenting with late night or even 24hrs opening:
In Prenzlauer Berg's Kastanienallee you'll find Fresh'N'Friends, a sort of not-quite-supermarket-deli kind of place with mainly "bio" produce open around the clock, including Sundays. Kastanienallee 26, 10435 Berlin. Books and magazinesMany stations, especially interchange stations, have one or more kiosks selling magazine and newspapers. Some may be open beyond 8pm; those on major stations are usually open until 10pm. Some neighborhood newspaper shops / kiosks also open until late. For books and CDs, the Kulturhaufhaus Dussmann (commonly misspelled Dussman or Dusmanmn) located in the Friedrichstraße is open until midnight each weekday from Monday until Saturday (closed Sundays). Special night openings may take place occasionally. OtherThere is a flower shop open 24 hours a day at Kottbusser Tor. Tegel Airport has a small supermarket which is open every day of the year. |