Large Stores Will Remain Closed for Easter

Visitors to Prague as well as locals should be warned that stores larger than 200 square meters will close on Easter April 1st and on April 2nd.

The law came into effect in 2016 and aims to make the Easter period less about commerce and more about the holiday spirit, allowing people to slow down and spend time with their families.

The law prohibits sales but does not require the store to be closed, according to some legal experts.

All retail shops over 200 square meters must be closed during seven of the most important national holidays on the Czech calendar. 

• New Year’s Day (January 1)
• Easter Monday
• Liberation Day (May 8)
• Czech Statehood Day (September 28)
• Independent Czechoslovak State Day (October 28)
• Christmas Day (December 25)
• St. Stephen’s Day (December 26)

Exempted from the new regulation are all shops under 200m, pharmacies and gas stations (thanks for that), and shops located in hospitals, airports, and train stations.

As for those, who open their doors in violation of the law? Fines can go up to one million crowns, while repeat offenders risk paying five times that amount. 

Author: red