‘The consumer is actually at fault for not reporting illegal sales’
SHOPKEEPERS union POVEK yesterday demanded that the law regulating shop sales on the island is properly implemented.
On Thursday, the Commerce Ministry announced that the summer sales will begin on July 14 and run until the end of August, in line with the regulations giving the government authority to set the period in which discounts can be advertised.
According to POVEK President Stefanos Koursaris, a change is required on the grounds that this would protect its members from the big stores which could drive them out of business by constantly reducing prices.
“In Cyprus, only around ten large companies control 75 per cent of the market and this is a cartel, as far as I am concerned,” he explained.
“We can and must have national laws in place to protect our small market and economy and will not give these up as presents to the monopolies.”
He added that many stores disregard the allocated sale periods, to the detriment of the consumer.
“The consumer is actually at fault for not reporting illegal stores,” said Koursaris.
He also said that the only deterrent is to punish offending stores according to the size of their profits.
“Over the past ten years, we have repeatedly called for implementation and pressure must now be exerted on the new Commerce Minister.”
Michael Geroudes, Chief Inspector of the Commerce Ministry’s Competition and Consumer Protection Services yesterday told the Mail that the sales apply to only four categories of goods: clothing, foodstuffs, electrical appliances and furniture.
According to the current law, shops are not restricted to reducing prices only during the government-set sales period. They can offer discounts whenever they choose to, so long as they do not publicise the fact through media advertising and signs in their windows.
“For sure, the situation is not ideal and we need to be much clearer on what is and is not allowed, for the benefit of everybody,” Geroudes said.
On the capital’s busy Ledra Street, Morgan shop assistant Olesea Papillarou said her store started sales early this year because everyone else did. “Since the euro was introduced, sales have been poor. We have 30 per cent off at the moment and so many more people are buying things.”
She added: “This is the first year we have started our sales early and it is all down to the euro.”
Next shop assistant Anastasia agreed. “Customers have been waiting for the sales as they think that the euro has made everything more expensive. This is why we started our sales early and it has worked.
“We have up to 50 per cent off certain items and these are the items that sell the most.”
Commenting, President of the Consumers Association Petros Marcou stated: “Our position is very clear.
“Sales are a good thing as the consumer is able to take advantage of lower prices and the market also moves with consumer spending.”
Marcou admitted that there is a disorder in the market as the law regulating sales is not applied. “The question then is why have the law?”
He called on the Commerce Ministry to bring together all relevant parties to arrive at a specific conclusion so that the consumer knows exactly what is going on. “This will help them organise shopping accordingly and to compare prices.”
