Larger shops ‘sucking in’ customers with illegal sales

LARGE stores who hold sales outside the regulate periods, are “behaving like cowboys” and ‘sucking up shoppers like a vacuum cleaner’  the general secretary of the small shopkeepers’ union POVEK, Stefanos Koursaris said yesterday.

“We don’t think it’s right to have sales 365 days a year,” said Koursaris.

POVEK is asking for a modification of the law in order to increase the fines imposed on those breaking the law, with the highest fine reaching a hefty €100,000 and a daily fine of €5,000 for repeat offenders.

According to the Competition and Consumer Service Protection at the Ministry of Commerce, sales can be carried out only twice yearly: on the first Monday of February until the fourth Saturday of the month, and in August on the first Monday and fourth Saturday. “Sales outside of this period are illegal,” said an employee of the department.

Koursaris described the small shopkeepers “as hostages to this law.”

According to POVEK member and former vice president Neokleous Trifonas, the economy is collapsing because larger stores are breaking the law and putting on sales more than the legal twice a year. “We need order,” said Trifonas.

Koursaris described the situation at the moment as “chaos”.

By the beginning of December police had charged 23 stores for conducting out of season sales, after having carried out a six week crackdown.

Between September 1 and October 15 the police investigated 788 shops and identified 362 violations. The majority of the stores complied and decided to end their sales. However, 23 of them refused, resulting in them having to go to court.