Big retailers want new opening hours made permanent

By Maria Gregoriou

A NEW association representing retailers on Monday called for the extended opening hours to continue past the trial run, which ends on October 13.

The Pancyprian Association of Retailers, registered last week, is composed of 40 leading businesses, such as, My Mall, Carrefour supermarkets, Jumbo, and McDonald’s among others.

Yesterday the president of the association and the general manager of Alpha Mega supermarkets, Vasos Theodotou said he had been approached by other businesses wanting to join the association.

“This proves that our movement is a positive one,” Theodotou said. He said the association was created because the voices of retailers needed to be heard.

The small shopkeepers union POVEK has been most vociferous in its opposition to the new hours, saying they would only benefit the bigger shops.  The union has taken legal steps to challenge the decree.
But Theodotou said the extended hour were good news for the consumer, for employment and for the economy. “It enables us to fight for survival,” he said.

The new hours  allowing shops outside tourist areas to stay open on Wednesday afternoon and all-day Sunday, were put in place on July 12 for a trial period.

“We do not want consumers to have to change their schedule to go out shopping, we want to be flexible for them,” said Theodotou, who added that revenues had increased.

He said more than 800 people had been hired to cover the extra shifts. These numbers could be better however, he said, as many businesses were holding off to see if the new hours would become permanent.

The association has plans to meet with labour minister Zeta Emilianidou to discuss making the new hours permanent.

When asked about POVEK, Theodotou said that it was not his association’s aim to close down small shops.

“We believe in the positive impact of the new working hours,” he said.

Data collected over the phone by Pulse Market Research firm. between September 2-9 showed that 73 per cent of the 1000 people polled, said the new shop hours “certainly or almost certainly” suited their needs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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