Biedronka - retail chain in Poland

Just wondering, what are your views, feelings, attitudes, etc. towards this retail chain which has been slowly but steadily expanding throughout all of Poland?

I'm asking this because it recently opened its 1000th store in Warsaw and seems to be pretty hyped up nowadays.

Cheers.

Is this the start of a campaign by the ladybird want to take over the world?

Very cheap stuff.

The quality of goods seems to be getting better, but it might be the new packaging on some items.
The cost of milk is half that of Chata Polska or Zabka.
It is very easy to save money by shopping at Biedronka rather than some of the other stores.

I dont buy any products there because of way they trate people working for them, and because of quality of products they have.

Do their employees always look unhappy? This happens in some retail chains.
In some shops, you go through the door and suddenly everyone looks ugly, with hairstyles 20 years out of date.
Never look at your reflection in any of these shops.


Someone once said something about buying condoms from there as a way of living life on the edge!

"Own products" of Biedronka shouldn't be bought unless the other option is looking for food in trashes.

few years ago when unemplyment in poland was close to 20% we have seen real face of this company ...

as to me ... Biedronka no thanks

Too many people want to pay as little as possible and to hell with the consequences.
That's without mentioning the fact that there are people who can't afford to pay more.
I can afford to buy good quality food for more money without having to resort to cheap and cheerful (or cheap and miserable) shops of this kind.
In the UK, we have Lidl, which I believe, works on a similar (un)principle.

We have Lidl too.

To my knowledge no-one has died because of Biedronka products. For an example of quality, the veggies are on view... so you can check them.
As for cost. I too can afford the more expensive. But why pay more for such things as bread, milk, alcohol, when they came from the same producer.

For some of these products, the price variation is all accounted for by the retailer's markup.
It would be preferrable for dairy farmers received a decent amount of money for the milk they produce, for example.

Why pay more? Shop in the company of happier, friendlier, better-looking, better-dressed people.

The few times i have shopped in Poland and Biedronka i have had no problems with quality of theyre products. How they treat theyre workers i dont know.

English Version website - URL
Never been in one but it looks similar to Aldis or Lidl.
Biedronka was one of the first Polish words I learned due to how many stores there are with a big ladybird stuck to the side of them.

One of the first I learnt from someone at work, but without knowing about the retail chain.
Pretty soon, I needed reminding what the word was, so I asked someone else and I got a different answer.
By the way, we were looking at real ladybirds (without smiley faces).

my close friend in Malbork works in Biedronka. she's full time, but NOT ALLOWED at least half an hour lunchbreak, think she only gets a 10 minute break in the morning so she reduced herself to snacking on candy bars as she works... going to the toilet is a big problem too, because as you know Biedronka is a very popular store and always busy, and the clients tend not to be forgiving if they have to wait 5 seconds, not mentioning 3 minutes... she says it's hell and she already gave them notice so she will be outta there soon... i like to shop in biedronka though. They made a documentary about Biedronka treating its employees that way a few years back... and of course when you go to Biedronka everybody will be smiling at you and saying dzien dobry. thats their job. they get checked if they smile, say hi or ask if youre interested in the latest offers. if they dont do that they get sacked. so yeah, that is what i heard about Biedronka, dont be mean to me now;).

Then they should check the Biedronka on Grzybowska street in Warsaw ,i did not see any employes smiling there :)

Ain't that the truth. Rarely see them smiling anywhere.

When i was in Warsaw i went in this shop and stuffs are very cheap compared to Tesco. But one must be crazy to buy "Bierdronka own labelled food" unless he or she wants to be ill. This is only my opinion. Despite this i think from time to time its not a crime to go there if u need 1 or 2 things urgently, specially if it's near.

I wasn't impressed with Biedronka. Tesco is a bigger store and found more variety of things there.

At the place i usually stay in Wasaw i have Biedronka and Albert close by ,i usually shop in these stores ,never been ill.

That is what i wanted to say.. each and everyone chooses what suits his or her need best. Whatever be your choice, its yours. I respect it entirely. Of course in Tesco you will have more.. its obvious

"Piotr i Paweł" is the best

When I was in Poland I was across the street from a Biedronka. Until reading this thread, I actually thought the store was a Communist era relic, and not a vibrant chain, rapidly expanding throughout Poland. It prompted my to start a thread about Polish workers not smiling. The clerk demanded that I have exact change, which aggravated me to no end. The manager was easy to pick out. He was the man that WATCHED all of the employees. My wife and her daughter had a very low opinion of the store, and were a bit dissapointed that I went there on my own. However, I think they viewed it like Americans view Wal-Mart. It's too inexpensive not to shop at, but the experience cheapens you, somehow.

well, actually you're wrong. of course, some products are cheap and of low quality, but some are well known products sold under a different name only in biedronka, but they are the same as everywhere else (but cheaper). for example - BAKOMA's yoghurts, which are pretty goog (they have different name but on the packet you will read wyprodukowano przez Bakoma dla Biedronki etc.), Campina's yoghurt, some sweets etc.

have the things changed in the last year ?
I'm going shopping to biedronka and also some "own biedronka product" seems nice.
what do u thunk about ?

It's still cheap to shop there.

There range of goods is still limited.

Some meat products are better.

You now have to pay for even small plastic carrier bags.

The queues are still atrocious as are some of the staff.

I heard about this too. I actually heard that the cashiers are not allowed to leave their post once they get there in the morning, so some are forced to wear diapers to make it through the day.

I'm surprised the people that shop there, usually the poorer folk, are so impatient & demanding. Maybe they feel they are "better" than the people working there, and act the way they do.

Personally, I wouldn't shop there just for this reason. I dont need to save 10zl, to make another adult stand in a diaper for 10-12 hour shifts.

Are you kidding me...? this is unbelievable....I must say i shop at these stores and have never noticed unhappy staff , well they don,t seem any more sour faced than other shop staff....

That has to be an urban legend. I simply cannot believe that to be true.