Since the just-completed European soccer championship, which Poland hosted with Ukraine, many Poles have taken stock of their nation’s progress, and an unusual good mood has captured an often pessimistic country. “It offered proof that we had changed,” said Bazyli Glowacki, 36, outside the deluxe Stary Browar shopping mall, named after the former brewery it is housed in. “You have nicer stores. People are better dressed. The theaters have better plays on.”

Another Poznan resident, Stanislaw Skrzypczak, cited an old Polish expression for unexpected success to describe the recent improvements. “Poland caught God by the legs,” he said.

It was not just a lucky catch, however, but one that was underpinned by sound decisions in Warsaw. André Sapir, a senior fellow and economist at the Brussels policy organization Bruegel who specializes in European integration, said that Poland’s success was a result of good management of both monetary and fiscal policy, keeping its debts low and its exchange rate flexible. Poland exercised strong financial supervision, he said, preventing the kind of explosion of consumer borrowing in foreign currencies that went out of control in Hungary.

“They did a number of things simultaneously that were coherent and always understood that they had to be flexible,” Mr. Sapir said. One of their advantages, a large domestic market, could not be replicated by Poland’s neighbors. With 38 million people (more than the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary combined), Polish companies are less dependent on export markets than their peers.

“I like to buy from Polish companies because the money stays here,” said Tomasz Niespodziany, 22, who cited the Piotr i Pawel grocery chain and the local Fortuna brewery among his favorites. He and his girlfriend were looking at rings together at a branch of the Polish jewelry chain Apart, which designs and produces its jewelry in and around Poznan and sells it in 180 stores across Poland.

Image Credit... The New York Times

Apart taps a patriotic strain in the country’s consumers, using the Polish model Anja Rubik, who was also featured on Poland’s version of “America’s Next Top Model,” to sell its collection. It has also benefited from the new airports and improved roads, which speed distribution and bring down costs.