Tough times for shops on the High Street

Afedeco, the Balearic Federation of Retail Businesses, says that the majority of retailers are reporting sales for the current spring-summer season which are on a par with or better than those in 2014 and also better than the autumn-winter season: 70% of businesses report trading that it is similar to or better than in spring-summer 2014. While 30% say that sales compared with spring-summer 2014 have dropped, only 20% reported a decline for the autumn-winter season: half of the retailers say that sales were up for that period. As for specific types of purchase, sales of clothing are showing an upward trend, while those for shoes have been falling. Assessing disposable income that customers have at present, 40% of businesses believe that it has risen, with 45% saying that it is the same. When it comes to customers from the Balearics or overseas, businesses taking part in the Afedeco survey say that greater sales (57.5%) are to residents of the islands.