Warsaw. The sad end of the Warsaw Granary. Merchandise given away, shop closed

On Tuesday at around 10 a.m. a large queue of people formed in front of the Granary, to whom the last food products in the store were distributed for free. The shelves inside the pavilion were completely empty. After three years and two months, the first social store in Warsaw has definitely ceased its operations.

The idea of ​​a social shop is to help the needy, the poor. In such shops, goods have much lower prices, but they are not of worse quality, only they often have a short expiry date. Companies get rid of products in this way, for the disposal of which they would soon have to pay anyway. They save, food is not wasted, and the needy buy cheaper. Chemicals and clothes also appear on the shelves. To make purchases, a certificate from social welfare or the foundation itself is needed.

The first social shop in Poland was opened in Katowice. The Warsaw Spichlerz was the second. In June 2021, it occupied a pavilion rented from the city at Modzelewskiego 71 in Mokotów. In March of this year, the Wolne Miejsce foundation, which runs the shop, announced that it was in trouble. A bailiff came to the shop with an eviction order. As reported by the city hall, although the foundation rented the premises on preferential terms, so it did not pay rent. The debt reached almost 280 thousand zlotys.

The rent was about 4.5 thousand złoty per month. The foundation claimed that the amount was to be returned to them due to the charitable nature of the undertaking. However, the city hall denied this. Warsaw's vice-president Aldona Machnowska-Góra replied that the preferential rate was low, but there was no possibility of exempting the tenant from rent payments.

In April, a meeting was held between representatives of the foundation and the city hall. Officials informed that the foundation had to: settle the debt and restore the premises to their previous condition in accordance with the renovation agreement. It was also agreed that the foundation would present a written proposal for solutions in this area, and then – after analyzing this proposal – another meeting would be organized.

The foundation's representatives claim that a date for the meeting was never set. “Despite many requests, phone calls, emails and inquiries from our side, such a meeting has not taken place, although over 18 weeks have passed,” the foundation said in a press release on Monday. “We are once again left to our own devices. Unfortunately, despite our best intentions, we are no longer able to maintain the store on our own with our own foundation resources,” the foundation's representatives concluded.

– Today is a sad day. We are saying goodbye to Warsaw, to the residents who used the social shop every day, the poorest ones. We are saying goodbye because we have to. We have no other choice, we cannot be here any longer – Mikołaj Rykowski, president of the Wolne Miejsce foundation, told journalists on Tuesday.

He emphasized that the idea of ​​social shops was brought to Poland from Vienna, where 16 such establishments operate. – They are supported by the city in cooperation with non-governmental organizations, so that there is no rent and additional fees. Thanks to this, prices can be very low. People who come for help can use it in a dignified manner – Rykowski noted.

The foundation's president said that about 150-200 people came to the store every day. Social organizations that help those in need in other places also came.

We asked the capital city hall why there was no agreement between the city and the foundation that would allow the store to operate? We are waiting for an answer.