Holiday Opening Hours for Department Stores and Shopping Centers 2015/2016

The shopping street Drottninggatan,
photo by Henrik Trygg/mediabank.visitstockholm.com 

(EDIT: blog from 2015, click here for updated information) Christmas is almost upon us! I have already written about special opening hours for museums and sightseeing tours. Now for those of you who are interested in a little holiday shopping. Stores and boutiques all, of course, have their own individual opening hours during the holidays. But you can generally say that they close early on December 24th & 31st and are closed on December 25th and January 1st. There are always exceptions to the rule! Here are the special holiday opening hours for some of the larger department stores and shopping centers. Take a look at their websites for information about other specific dates. Interested in Christmas markets? The last day for these markets is December 23rd. Click here for a full list of markets and their opening dates/hours.

• NK department store: open from 10am to 9pm on the days leading up to Christmas. 10am to 2pm on December24th, closed on December 25th, open from 10am to 5pm on December 31st and closed on January 1st.
• Åhlens City department store: open from 10am to 10pm on the days leading up to Christmas. 10am to 2pm on December24th, closed on December 25th, open from 10am to 6pm on December 31st and closed on January 1st.
• Mall of Scandinavia: (newly opened) open from 10am to 10pm on the days leading up to Christmas, 10am to 4pm on December 24th, closed on December 25th, open from 10am to 4pm on December 31st and closed on January 1st. Keep in mind that certain parts of the mall (restaurants, cinema) may have different opening hours. My recent visit.
• Mood shopping center: Open 10am to 9pm on the days leading up to Christmas, 10am to 2pm on December 24th, closed on December 25th, open from 10am to 6pm on December 31st and closed on January 1st.
• Gallerian shopping center:  open from 10am to 9pm on the days leading up to Christmas. 10am to 2pm on December24th, closed on December 25th, open from 10am to 4pm on December 31st and closed on January 1st.
• Sturegallerian shopping center: open from 10am to 8pm on the days leading up to Christmas. 10am to 2pm on December 24th, closed on December 25th, open from 10am to 2pm on December 31st and closed on January 1st.
• Skrapan shopping center: open from 10am to 8pm on the days leading up to Christmas. 10am to 2pm on December 24th, closed on December 25th, open from 10am to 4pm on December 31st and closed on January 1st.
• Barkarby Outlets: closed on December 24th, 25th, 31st and January 1st.
• Östermalms Saluhall (indoor food market): closed on Sundays and December 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th (a Sunday) and January 1st.
• Systembolaget (state run liquor stores): They are closed on Sundays, December 24th, 25th and 26th. On December 31st they close at 2pm and are completely closed on January 1st. So... plan your shopping wisely!

Christmas splendour at NK.

The days in between Christmas and New Year's are called mellandagarna ("middle days") and are some of the biggest shopping days of the year. This is due to the sales! Keep your eyes open for signs saying rea ("sale") or mellandagsrea ("middle day sale"). Buying electronics is especially popular during these days.