28/12/2012 00:00
TW
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Palma.—Not even the festive period could raise the morale of Palma´s shopkeepers who have seen their turnover plummet by more than 120 million euros this year. “It has been a very poor year for us. Sales have fallen and there is no light at the end of the tunnel,” said Bernat Coll, President of Pimeco, the small business organisation. “I think you could say that our members are really feeling the full brunt of the recession with consumers spending less,” he said. “Even sales over the festive period were down on last year. There were people out on the streets but it was more a case of window shopping than actual sales.” Coll slammed the central government for their policy of cutbacks which saw thousands of civil servants left without a Christmas bonus. This obviously had a negative affect on the festive period. “It is simple. If people have got less money to spend it is going to hit us hard,” the small business chief said. He added that although the city council had spent money on festive entertainment aiming at attracting shoppers the biggest beneficiaries were the big stores.

Looking ahead to the sales period in the New Year Coll said that he hoped that there would be a revival in spending but he added that many of their members were unable to compete against the huge discounts which were being offered by the major department stores. “We are facing a double problem. Firstly, we have the recession and the drop in spending and secondly we have the additional competition from the big stores who have been slashing their prices even before the sales period actually begins,” he added.

This year hundreds of small shops have closed their doors for business, many had been in business for decades but they were just unable to weather the economic doom and gloom. Even traders on elite streets such as Jaime III in central Palma are feeling the pinch.