19/04/2013 00:00
TW
0
By Humphrey Carter

PALMA
BALEARIC high streets are in crisis and the retail sector yesterday cried out for help, “any kind of help”, as takings dry up and jobs are lost.
The small to medium shop keepers say sales are in “free fall” while the retail sector as a whole claims the situation is “terrible.” Based on the latest data from the national Statistics Institute, Pimeco, the small to medium retail association, claims that an estimated 150 million euros has been lost in the past six months and nearly half of that, 60 million, during January and February - the peak of the winter sales period.

And 1'500 jobs have also been lost in the small retail sector since the start of the year.
Pimeco President Bernat Coll says his members need “all and any help they can get” to survive.
Bartomeu Servera, President of the Afedeco retail association said it is time to get tough and “go straight to the heart of the problem.” The poor performance of the Easter holiday has spread panic up and down the region's high streets and the retail sector fears that it is going to be extremely difficult to recuperate the financial and job losses incurred over the past few months.

The root of the problem is that people are not spending. “It makes no difference to us if the streets are full because people's pockets are not,” said Coll and none of the retail associations honestly expect consumer confidence to suddenly recover with 75'000 (and rising) people out of work in the Balearics.

Coll maintains that consumer campaigns like those mounted at Christmas need to be launched along with fiscal incentives and savings for the struggling retail sector.

He also accused local councils of providing the large super and hyper markets with more help than his members.
Servera, whose Afedeco association represents the large retailers, said that the primary objective has got to be reaching an agreement between the retail sector, the local administrations and unions to use public funds to create jobs and get people back in to work. “There's been plenty of talk, lots of social dialogue, but we're still not taking the situation seriously because everything continues to get worse,” he said.