Grottaglie Ceramics town; opening time and tips?

I haven't been there, and I suspect not many folks here have. I'd expect many (maybe all) shops to close for part of the afternoon. The timing of that closure can vary a bit from shop to shop, and it is likely also to be seasonal. During the hottest months, the afternoon closing will be longer, and the shops may remain open later into the evening. Therefore, it matters when you will be there.

In case you don't get a response with solid info, this is what I'd do: Go to Google Maps. Zoom in on Grottaglie. Type ceramics into the Search box, which should give you a bunch of store locations. Click on each individual icon and look for a website you can go to for operating hours. Google will display hours directly in the panel that pops up, but I've found those not terribly reliable. For that matter, smaller shops aren't necessarily great about keeping their own websites updated. My suspicion is that Facebook may have more current information since it's easier for a layperson to update, but I don't know for sure.

The key thing is not to show up at 1 or 1:30 PM, looking for a nice, long afternoon of shopping.

We were there several years ago,so things may have changed. However, parking was not a problem. The shops are mostly grouped together, and we easily found street parking. For hours, I would google “Grottaglie ceramic shops” and look at individual websites.
There is a quite good ceramics museum in town. You should stop by for a visit.

I had booked a place to stay overnight there for this year before changing my final itinerary. Here’s some info about a specific shop that I read previously. You might want to send Nancy a private message.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/grottaglie

Grottaglie is well worth a stop for the ceramics. We just stopped for a few hours because the weather was bad but the shops are something special. Here's the description of our day. Getting there between 10 a.m. and 12.30 or between 5 and 7 should be safe. I was quite surprised that everything closed at 7.30 but it was a rainy night in September. Depends what time of year you're going maybe.

Here's what Google has to say about the hours of Bottega Ceramica di Fasano Antonio:

Monday 9 AM–1 PM, 4:30–8 PM

Tuesday 9 AM–1 PM, 4:30–8 PM

Wednesday 9 AM–1 PM, 4:30–8 PM

Thursday 9 AM–1 PM, 4:30–8 PM

Friday 9 AM–1 PM, 4:30–8 PM

Saturday 9 AM–1 PM, 4:30–8 PM

Sunday Closed

These are pretty typical afternoon closing hours for shops and even churches in Puglia. Restaurants that serve lunch are open, though. I would call or email him if you want to be sure --- there are always Italian or local holidays, shopowners' vacations or dental appointments, etc. to contend with.

I don't do Instagram but here he is: https://www.instagram.com/antoniofasanoceramiche/?hl=en

It's funny that we like this shop so much because a lot of what he makes is modern and we like traditional ceramics, but we also like polka dots for some reason and he does some polka dot pottery. Every shop in Grottaglie is different in its style, so go into several and see what you like. We've learned never to judge a book by its cover or a shop by what's in the window or online.

Thanks for all the great info. We will have luggage in the car; although my husband might be ok getting a coffee and staying with the car. I'm worried about leaving stuff in our car while wandering town and shopping.

Glad to see opening time is 9 am so that we have time for the rest of our journey that day. I'd hate to miss ceramics--thanks for tips about individuals too.

Verify operating hours right before your trip if you aren't traveling right away. They may be very different in June/July/August from what they are in April.

good tip- we are traveling end of April/May.

PS This is about the time we spent in Grottaglie:
https://slowtravelitalyspain.blogspot.com/2023/11/puglia-in-september-2023-grottaglie.html

Nancy, thanks for that recommendation--I love that splatterware. Really regretting not stopping at Grottaglie on my last visit!