Updated June, 2010 and again April 2015.

For those of you coming here to find which supermarkets are open on Sunday in Milan, well, now, most of them are.  However, one that is guaranteed to be open every day (including Sundays), except 2 days (Christmas Day and Easter Day) is Esselunga in Viale Piave. Also, from what I understand, one that is open almost 365 days of the year is the supermarket at Central station (Stazione Centrale)

Now on to the original post ……..

Actually, that’s not true.  Until recently, all the supermarkets in Milan were closed on Sunday. Coming from the UK, this seemed very strange, but you get used to anything.

Then, quite suddenly it seemed, they decided to open on some Sundays. They would put a banner up outside the supermarket to say that they were open on Sunday. But, it appeared, they took it in turns.

Then, from about November, they all started to open on Sunday – every Sunday.  I thought that they had finally realised that true Customer Service (not something Italians seem to expect or get) meant opening when your customers wanted.  So one came to expect they would be open and it was very useful.  Even to the point that they stopped putting up the blackboard signs in the entrance to tell you which Sundays they were to be open.

Imagine my shock, today, when one of the local supermarkets actually had the blackboard sign to say that they were CLOSED for this Sunday!  OMG!

While I’m on the subject of Supermarkets, something that happens here – a LOT – which I never really found in the UK.  People will start their shopping.  Then, when they have about 1/2 of it they will queue up at the till, but then leaving their basket or trolley, will continue to go and get the other things they need, returning every so often with an armful of groceries.  This is fine – unless it comes to their turn at the till and they are nowhere to be seen!  If it’s me who is behind them, I’ll just skip ahead, but it has caused some fights at the till, with me shouting in my very best English.  Grrr.

And, they don’t do drugs (I mean the legal kind), which includes cigarettes.  You can only get drugs from a chemist and cigarettes only from a tobacconist.  Train/tram/bus and parking tickets you seem to be able to get from virtually anywhere (except supermarkets, of course) but you can certainly get them from tobacconists!

I’m sure that, eventually, Italy will discover the concept of Customer Service and all I can say is “roll on that day”.