Closed

I was going to a store, trying to find something for souvenirs. However, I couldn’t even enter. There was a banner and it clearly showed “closed”. When I was in Amsterdam and grabbed some beers with a friend. He used to live in Asia for a while and we discussed some differences between Europe and Asia. A key difference is that stores are not open on Sunday. It was quite interesting to hear him speak about this difference. He indicated that stores had better open on Sunday, in particular, department stores, because people have time to go to the department stores on holidays. He frequently saw department stores with a lot of people on the weekend when he lived in Asia and that usually generated more revenue. Indeed, things are just different between Asia and Europe. When I was traveling in Japan, I could go to stores everyday if I wanted. Sometimes, a friend asked me to search for some products that are only available in Japan and I usually don’t have many problems finding those products even on the weekends because most stores are open. However, when I was traveling in Europe and some friends asked me to search for something for them on the weekend, I would have hoped they would tell me earlier. Sometimes, they texted me on Saturday night and I would reply “sorry” because stores are closed the next day. Lifestyles are different between Asia and Europe and there’s no right or wrong. Nonetheless, if going to some stores is on your to-do list while traveling, it’s much better to do it on weekdays. Otherwise, you might be disappointed. A friend was trying to go shopping when he was traveling in Europe, but she didn’t notice that stores are not open on Sunday. She didn’t get anything. But, luckily, it was her first city to visit in Europe and she didn’t make the same mistake again.