Most shops in central Athens, Greece , were open on Sunday, under laws allowing Sunday opening during the mid-season sales, despite reactions on the part of the Federation of Private Employees of Greece against the measure and demonstrations organized by dozens of workers at intervals along the Ermou shopping high street.
Trade unionists stood before department stores and obstructed the entry of customers in some places but no tension was recorded as a result.
The majority of shops opened around noon, when a half-marathon in Athens, Greece, was coming to its close, and the streets in the area were flooded with people, though few appeared to be interested in shopping and the majority headed for cafes instead.
Retailers were determined to look on the bright side, however, placing their hopes in a long-awaited economic upturn, and that hefty discounts reaching as high as 70% will revive the consumers’ desire to spend.
Shopkeepers were advised not to open by the National Confederation of Hellenic Commerce (NCHC), whose announcement spoke of “a proven certainty through the statistical evidence that we will be faced with yet another unnecessary and failed Sunday.”
NCHC President Vassilis Korkidis called the Sunday opening measures “a failed experiment” and said the mid-season sales were adopted specifically for the purpose of adding two more Sundays “because they are held at the wrong time, due to the arrival of new merchandise, and undermine the regular sales at the end of each season.”
“There is no point in evaluating its results, nor even in protesting against a measure that has discredited itself on its own,” he added.
(source: ana-mpa)
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