The festive schedule begins

The application of the festive schedule for the period of Christmas and New Year is considered a tonic breath for the shopkeepers. The festive opening hours of the commercial stores of free Cyprus came into force by Thursday, December 1st, and will be valid until December 31. In particular, the consumer public will be able to be served on weekdays by… nine in the morning until eight in the evening, including Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. On Saturday, December 24 and Saturday, December 31, the stores will be open until six in the afternoon. It is clarified that the mandatory holidays for the employees of the commercial stores are the 25th and the 26th of December, as well as the 1st and the 2nd of January 2012.

The 13th salary…
The main streets of shopping malls in all cities began to "smell" Christmas, with the main goal of attracting consumers and increasing shopping. In fact, there are many shops in the city that have decorated their shop windows with Christmas decorations and colorful lights.
According to General Secretary of POVEK, Stefano Koursari, the shopkeepers of Cyprus have been subjected, lately, to a prolonged and restrained period, with the traffic in the market marking a dramatic decrease and for this reason the tonic injection is required, which will be given during the holidays.

As stressed by Mr. Koursaris, during the Christmas and New Year holidays it is a fact that the sales of the stores increase significantly, in general of all kinds of businesses and especially of the companies that offer clothing, footwear and gifts. An important factor in the recovery of the shopping movement in the shopping centers of the cities remains for another year the payment of the 13th salary, both in the public and in the private sector.
As noted by Mr. Koursaris, consumer visits to stores are still exploratory, as they are waiting for the 13th salary for their purchases.

Not to the mockery of consumers.
POVEK, in collaboration with the professional associations of shopkeepers in Cyprus, is trying to put a BRAKE on the mockery of consumers by a portion of shopkeepers. Their policy, as stressed by Mr. Koursaris, is, due to the economic crisis, which implies reduced buying traffic, to offer the consumer quality products at lower prices. He clarified in this regard that the reduced prices that will be offered to the consumer should be done with the right information and in no case should they contain misleading advertisements, such as sales 365 days a year, which do not correspond to reality.

«And this should be understood by the consumer as well as the fact that there are no sales every 15 days, a process that has been adopted by dozens of shopkeepers in recent years. For all the above", Concluded the General Secretary of POVEK,"we are strongly opposed and disagree with these methods». Source: SigmaLive