By Athena Karsera
SHOPKEEPERS have called on the government to act to stop competitors discounting their goods before the specified sales period.
Speaking at a press conference on the upcoming winter sales yesterday, Melios Georgiou, the secretary-general of the Union for Small Businesses and Retailers (Povek), told reporters: “Large supermarkets and chain stores began (their sales) first and other shops were forced to follow.”
Condemning the large stores, Georgiou said their actions caused unfair competition between retailers from the consumer would end up as the loser. He said the consumer should be offered “real sale prices on leftover clothes from a specific commercial period that is ending, and not be misled with offers on goods that were especially manufactured for the sales and sold at a price they would have been sold at anyway.”
Smaller shops also missed out, he said, as they could not afford to advertise their special prices and depended on people knowing sales were on and going around the shops specifically to find bargains.
He said the Commerce Ministry seemed unable to prevent this from happening and that Povek, “demands that the responsible Minister puts this issue in order.”
Georgiou said Commerce Minister Nicos Rolandis had already brought forward this year’s by 14 working days and had extended them to last seven instead of four weeks, as in earlier years.
The winter sales usually start on the first Monday of February.
Strictly regulated sales were more likely to encourage healthy competition and to allow the customer a real chance of finding a real bargain, Georgiou said.
“During the legally specified sales period… consumers have the opportunity to choose between goods they like at very low prices and from a range of retailers.”
Georgiou said that consumers could also expect excellent opportunities because the sales followed a slow festive season.
Speaking to the Cyprus Mail later yesterday, he said that sales over Christmas had been lower than expected. “We believe the cold weather played a role, and in part, the Stock Exchange too. Also there were a lot of goods on offer because of the large number of shops.”
The sales will (officially) begin on Monday January 17 ending on Saturday March 4.
