After yet another disappointing Christmas sales season as Greeks had holiday bonuses decimated by austerity measures that have made many people keep their wallets in their pockets, Greek shop owners who are still in business are hoping that the start of the January sales will bring more customers through their doors.
Shoppers who are suffering their sixth year of recession were lured into the main commercial streets by promises of bargains, with retailers, worried, but hopeful. As the sales began on Jan. 15, Andreas Triantafyllides, of the clothing store Strongylos in central Athens, told Euronews: “In previous years, December and January accounted for around four or five months worth of our business. Now of course, things are very different because we have the crisis but we also offer discounts frequently during the year.”
They need the boost from the bargain hunters, but even sales of 70 percent or more have failed to budge many Greeks who are spending mostly for necessities, and even then not so much as supermarket sales are down too. Sales in the run-up to Christmas were down 20 percent on the previous year, according to the Hellenic Retail and Business Association.
Household budgets have been squeezed by austerity measures, including higher taxes and cuts in public sector pay and pensions to shore up public finances. There are shuttered shops everywhere, which is no surprise given that surveys show the crisis means Greeks have lost half of their purchasing power over the past two years.
Some 68,000 businesses have closed since austerity began nearly three years ago with prospects that thousands more will soon close on the heels of yet another terrible holiday sales period for many.
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