Shopping in Ukraine

Hello-hello! How is your Friday going? Hope you are ready for the weekend! I've noticed that in the States shopping is a very popular leisure activity during the weekend. As early as 6-7 am. on Saturday morning I can see people rushing to the parking lots in front of the stores. Sundays are a bit quieter but closer to the noon I see a lot of cars on the roads again. You might think that I'm weird talking about shopping. Shopping is shopping. Nothing to talk about. Don't people shop all over the world the same way??? What if I told you that there are some differences in shopping habits and that you take certain things as for shopping for granted.
Since I was born at the beginning of the 80s a lot of things have changed in shopping style in Ukraine. When I was a little kid shopping looked like this:

Any kind of shopping presupposed standing in lines or if there was no line it meant that the store either was empty or goods in it were completely useless. So you would wonder how is it possible that all those people on the photos are not naked at least, right? Well, you could buy clothing pretty much without any problems, but the quality and colour palette were simply horrible. If you wanted to get something better quality you were supposed to know somebody who worked in the sales. Those people usually had access to better stuff. If to talk about food, our grocery stores usually carried bread (2-3 kinds), butter, sour cream, milk, cottage cheese, sparkling water, apple and grape juice, several kinds of pasta, some preserves (pickled cucumbers and tomatoes), some cookies and caramel candies. Some stores had a liquor department. Other types of food you would either get in stores with a wider range of goods if there was such store in your area or go to what is called in the States as Farmers' Market. Our Farmers' Markets were the real saviour and remain to be and here is why. Ukraine is a very agricultural country and if you read my previous stories you know that if a Ukrainian lives in a private house most likely there will be a kitchen garden next to the house and a small farm consisting at least of a couple of chickens. Many people also have ducks, goats and even bigger animals, especially those who live in villages. So very often a surplus of harvest and farming will be sold at the local Farmers' Market. For example, if my grandfather has a bountiful harvest of apricots he will take them to the market and his friend who works there would sell them for him. The same thing happens with the surplus of eggs, cucumbers or walnuts. Personally, I like shopping at the Farmers' Market for a couple of reasons. In the town where live my parents the market is not just a shopping place but also an important place for socialising and catching up with the latest news, meeting friends and acquaintances. Secondly, my mom has a network of salespeople that she buys groceries from; on the one hand, you can get a better price, on the other hand, you can be sure that the quality is always great. Of course, when you are in a new town you won't be able to get all these pros at once. When I lived in Kyiv I didn't shop too often at the Farmers' Markets simple because they were too far from me and I was pretty satisfied with the quality and product range in my supermarket. In addition, my apartment was literally surrounded by good shopping. On top of that, I had an Armenian couple selling fruits and vegetables next to my home from a small stall. 

So how about other kinds of shopping? If you live in s big city all kinds of gorgeous shopping malls are at your service. When I say gorgeous I really mean it. They are packed with all possible kind of entertainment and shopping. You see, Amazon and eBay are not that popular in my country yet, so people go to physical stores especially if they have kids because, as I've mentioned, our shopping malls are packed with entertainment: movie theatres, restaurants, food courts, playgrounds, aquariums, water parks, bowling, billiards, skating rinks, rollerblade halls, even go-cart racing and sky diving. 

So what do people do if they don't live in a big city? Walk naked? Nope, they go to markets! Not the Farmers' Markets but merchandise markets. If you have travelled to Turkey or Marocco you must have seen those vivid and agile places with clothing, shoes, souvenirs, local food and many other traditional things. Our merchandise markets don't look that authentic unless you go to ones that sell our national crafts. But you will be surprised by the range of goods you can buy there from AAA batteries to wedding dresses.

The 7th Kilometre Market, Odesa

Kalynivskyi Market, Chernivtsi

I know they look weird but the variety of merchandise and prices can be really interesting. Of course, it can turn into a boring activity since you keep walking an aisle after an aisle and try to find what you are looking for (it's if you know what you are looking for). Another thing you have to remember that whether it's freezing winter or scorching summer you still will do a lot of walking and in some cases, you might have a very unforgettable experience of trying something on. A lot of people still are fond of places like that because they believe that they can find a really good bargain there since in regular stores prices are higher because of rent and salary expenses. As a lazy shopper, I gave up on visiting places like this and do it only occasionally when I visit my grandfather or my parents. The markets in small towns are much smaller and it takes me 20 minutes to walk through them and see what they have to offer. 

As you can tell shopping in Ukraine is definitely different from shopping in the US for example. However, it can turn into a really cool experience for a foreigner. My friends from Germany adore shopping at the Farmers' Market in the town where my parents live. My friends from the US were literally shocked (I mean in a good way) when they tried fruits and vegetables from my local market. At first, I couldn't understand why my friend Chris was eating a tomato and there were tears in his eyes. Well, now after a couple of years in the States I think about home-grown tomatoes with the tears in my eyes, or the cottage cheese that my mom buys, or strawberries, or apricots...... I will stop here because I will really start crying! 

Of course, my mom doesn't buy all the groceries at the market, they have a very nice small grocery store right next to their apartment building. So usually bread, water, sweets, cheese, beer, butter or coffee are purchased there, especially if she forgot to buy something at the market. But most provision for the week is bought at the farmers' market. One more important thing about markets in small communities - they don't work every day. In my parents' town, the market works only on Wednesday and Saturday. In my grandfather's town, the market works all days except Monday. And of course, the markets don't work during the holidays: Christmas, Easter, New Year or any other big holiday.

So enjoy your shopping, be frugal and remember that even shopping can be an unusual experience!

Behave!

Sincerely yours!