Big dip in winter sales turnover

Enterprises and state coffers saw a year-on-year decline of no less than 6 billion euros in the winter sales period, according to data collected by the National Confederation of Greek Commerce (ESEE).

The turnover drop in the January 15 – February 29 period reached 43 percent nationwide, while in several cities it was 60 percent compared with the 2011 winter sales.

In fact many stores are continuing their sales while a great number are facing the prospect of shutting down by the end of this month, once they have cleared their stock.

The biggest blow this year was sustained by the apparel retail sector, which saw a 38 percent decline from the same period last year, and that had come on the back of a major drop the year before. Turnover in furniture and household item stores contracted by 31 percent and bookstores saw sales drop by 15 percent. Department stores suffered a relatively smaller blow, amounting to a 10 percent fall in sales.

Iraklio on Crete saw the smallest drop in turnover (15-20 percent), while the biggest was in Grevena in Western Macedonia (80 percent).

Ekathimerini.com