Clothing retailers have had better than expected January sales so far, while other sectors like homeware, cosmetics and jewellery are struggling, the president of the GRTU said.

Abigail Mamo from the Chamber of Small Enterprises said that from the companies the chamber had spoken to so far, clothing and fashion retailers promoting sales were performing better than expected.

Other more specialised businesses, such as kitchenware, skincare and jewellery – which were not offering discounts – were either hitting their sales targets or were around 10% lower than normal levels.

Ms Mamo said some retailers had managed to recover the losses they experienced during the December period.

“According to feedback from the retailers, those running discounts in January did very well while others said they had recouped their losses from December.

“They had more stock than they usually have. November and December were pretty slow,” she added.

Singling out jewellery retailers, she explained that these companies tended to focus on preparing for events like Valentine’s Day rather than the period directly after Christmas.

The January sales follow a period of political turmoil and instability that had hit businesses hard between November and the first three weeks of December. Valletta was the worst affected although the problems were felt across the country.

Claire Attard, store manager for Next in Sliema, told Times of Malta that despite a “very slow” festive period, their January sales, which started on Boxing Day, had picked up.

She said the protests during November had meant lost sales on Black Friday.

“We were that quiet and we lost quite a lot of sales. We ended up with a lot of winter stock we didn’t manage to sell, and everyone waits for the sales,” she said.

Just around the corner, Melanie, the store manager of the Sliema branch of Mothercare, said the shop was cautiously preparing for the January sales period despite the challenges facing the high street.

She said sales would be affected by traffic and parking issues in the area.

Ms Mamo confirmed that Sliema’s high-street businesses were seriously affected by the lack of proper parking facilities.

“We need a better plan for Sliema shops. We need to sustain them through alternative parking facilities,” she said.