diff --git a/src/components/SharedCarousel.js b/src/components/SharedCarousel.js
index c0507b7..e16ffaf 100644
--- a/src/components/SharedCarousel.js
+++ b/src/components/SharedCarousel.js
@@ -23,28 +23,26 @@ const processCategoryTree = (categoryTree) => {
 
 // Check for cached data
 const getProductCache = () => {
-  if (typeof window !== "undefined" && window.productCache) {
+  // Ensure cache exists
+  if (typeof window !== "undefined") {
+    window.productCache = window.productCache || {};
     return window.productCache;
   }
-  if (
-    typeof global !== "undefined" &&
-    global.window &&
-    global.window.productCache
-  ) {
+  if (typeof global !== "undefined" && global.window) {
+    global.window.productCache = global.window.productCache || {};
     return global.window.productCache;
   }
-  return null;
+  return {};
 };
 
-// Initialize categories
+// Initialize categories - USE THE CACHE directly
 const initializeCategories = (language = 'en') => {
-  const productCache = getProductCache();
-  
+  const cache = getProductCache();
   // Try language-specific cache first, then fallback to default
-  const cached = productCache?.[`categoryTree_209_${language}`]?.categoryTree || 
-                (language === 'de' && productCache?.["categoryTree_209"]?.categoryTree);
+  const categoryTree = cache[`categoryTree_209_${language}`]?.categoryTree || 
+                      (language === 'de' && cache["categoryTree_209"]?.categoryTree);
   
-  return cached ? processCategoryTree(cached) : [];
+  return processCategoryTree(categoryTree || {});
 };
 
 const SharedCarousel = () => {
@@ -82,11 +80,12 @@ const SharedCarousel = () => {
   useEffect(() => {
     // Only fetch if we don't have categories
     if (rootCategories.length === 0 && typeof window !== "undefined") {
-      const productCache = getProductCache();
-      const hasCache = productCache?.[`categoryTree_209_${currentLanguage}`]?.categoryTree || 
-                      (currentLanguage === 'de' && productCache?.["categoryTree_209"]?.categoryTree);
+      const cache = getProductCache();
+      const categoryTree = cache[`categoryTree_209_${currentLanguage}`]?.categoryTree || 
+                          (currentLanguage === 'de' && cache["categoryTree_209"]?.categoryTree);
       
-      if (!hasCache) {
+      // If no cache, fetch
+      if (!categoryTree) {
         window.socketManager.emit("categoryList", { categoryId: 209, language: currentLanguage, requestTranslation: true }, (response) => {
           if (response && response.success) {
             // Use translated data if available, otherwise fall back to original
diff --git a/src/components/header/CategoryList.js b/src/components/header/CategoryList.js
index f338343..0a106a5 100644
--- a/src/components/header/CategoryList.js
+++ b/src/components/header/CategoryList.js
@@ -170,24 +170,21 @@ class CategoryList extends Component {
     const windowObj = (typeof global !== "undefined" && global.window) || 
                      (typeof window !== "undefined" && window);
     
-    if (windowObj && !windowObj.productCache) {
-      windowObj.productCache = {};
-    }
-
-    const cacheKey = `categoryTree_209_${currentLanguage}`;
-    const cachedData = windowObj?.productCache?.[cacheKey];
+    // Ensure cache exists
+    windowObj.productCache = windowObj.productCache || {};
     
-    // Use cache if available
-    if (cachedData?.categoryTree) {
-      this.processCategoryTree(cachedData.categoryTree);
+    // Get cache key
+    const cacheKey = `categoryTree_209_${currentLanguage}`;
+    
+    // USE THE CACHE directly - if it has data, use it
+    const categoryTree = windowObj.productCache[cacheKey]?.categoryTree;
+    if (categoryTree) {
+      this.processCategoryTree(categoryTree);
       return;
     }
     
-    // Mark as being fetched
-    if (windowObj?.productCache) {
-      windowObj.productCache[cacheKey] = { fetching: true, timestamp: Date.now() };
-    }
-    
+    // No cache, so fetch
+    windowObj.productCache[cacheKey] = { fetching: true, timestamp: Date.now() };
     this.setState({ fetchedCategories: true });
     window.socketManager.emit("categoryList", { categoryId: 209, language: currentLanguage, requestTranslation: true }, (response) => {
       if (response && response.success) {