Chinese take-away business from traditional shops

THERE has been an invasion of Asian businesses in Palma during the last five years.
They now have a 15 percent presence in the Plaza Pere Garau shopping area (off the Calle Aragon), the main focus of expansion for these types of businesses, according to a study of the growth of these companies by the Association of Small and Medium Sized Businesses on Majorca (Pimeco). Asian commerce has grown by 1'350 percent between the years 2000 and 2005 in this district of Palma. Pimeco found 27 establishments run and staffed by Chinese people in the commercial centre of Pere Garau. These people have abandoned the typical bazaar type of shop in favour of specialising in only one type of product or service, such as shoes or clothes. The report says that there are different amounts of these companies in the Pere Garau centre but the maximum concentration of Asian businesses is in the Calle Arquebisbe Aspareg, where they form 22.45 percent of the total shops.