Shop owners celebrating year of steady sales figures

Malta’s shop owners had plenty to celebrate come the end of the year, reporting steady sales figures throughout 2016, preliminary data collected by the Chamber of Small and Medium Enter-prises (GRTU) showed.
The GRTU’s vice-president, Marcel Mizzi, told the Times of Malta yesterday that, while the Chamber was still compiling the official data, the initial reactions were positive.
The majority of shop owners, Mr Mizzi said, reported steady sales figures throughout the year, and while some did not note any significant increase from previous years, only a few reported a decline in sales.
As to what could have led to this, Mr Mizzi said that most owners claimed to have introduced more new products and services last year, while some also attributed the increase to consumers having better spending power.
The festive season also yielded positive results, Mr Mizzi went on, explaining that the busiest days remained those closer to Christmas.

“When owners were asked whether their busiest days were Black Friday, the two public holidays or the week before Christmas, the vast majority pointed to the latter,” Mr Mizzi explained.
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