SHOPPING

ON Saturday afternoon the centre of Palma was like a ghost town, meanwhile the out of town shopping centres were packed. Is this a sign of the times? All the major stores which have sprung up on the outskirts of Palma were doing good business.

As they are all open to 10p.m. shoppers were not in a hurry. Judging by the bulging shopping bags there was no sign of a slowdown in spending, just different trends. This state of affairs is going to get worse as the local government has given permission to more big stores to open on the city outskirts. One of the obvious advantages of the out-of-town stores are that they have ample parking facilities. Unless shops in the city centre start moving with the times they are facing reduced spending. This Christmas city centre traders need to make a real effort because their out-of-town counterparts are already gearing up for the festive season. Unless the council can sort out parking in the city centre and help shopkeepers attract shoppers back into the city centre, Palma´s once fine shopping streets will just become ghost towns. Also, they need to look at their opening times! Shopping in Palma could be such a pleasure if only shopkeepers were slightly more flexible and moved with the times.