Bublava is a municipality in the Sokolov area in the Karlovy Vary Region. The first automated grocery store in the region was opened in the municipality.[1][2]
Automated store
The store keeps its previous opening hours, and after they end customers shop on their own without staff, so they can also shop at night and at weekends.[2] It is run by Západočeské konzumní družstvo Sušice. According to the cooperative's commercial director Petr Lerch, the new approach resulted from the cost of long opening hours and the low purchasing power of the village's residents; the alternative was to close the store.[1][2] The municipality supports the store with a symbolic rent and a subsidy.[2]
The store is entered through a mobile app that requires a bank identity. Foreign visitors without one can newly register in the DoKapsy app from ČSOB by scanning an identity card or passport, and the Bublava store is to be the first where this option is used.[1][2]
Lukáš Němčík, vice-chairman of the COOP network for services, said that the COOP network operates more than 130 automated stores.[1][2]
Chronology
- — The first automated grocery store in the Karlovy Vary Region was opened in Bublava in the Sokolov area; it can also be used without a bank identity. → iDNES.cz: Karlovy Vary ČRo Karlovy Vary
Sources
- iDNES.cz: Karlovy Vary — 16 October 2026
- ČRo Karlovy Vary — 16 October 2026