Sales fail to attract shoppers

Many shops reopened their doors yesterday after New Year's Day offering discounts of up to 50 per cent but there was no rush of shoppers taking advantage of the sales and the streets in Valletta and Sliema were quiet.

Other shops, especially in Sliema, kept their doors closed to do their annual stocktaking and put lower prices on their goods.

Charles Borg, of Zak, in Valletta said so far there had been no response at all to his sale.

Something was wrong, he complained, and this could be seen from the decision to further reduce interest rates by 0.25 per cent. Some shops had even started to cut prices in the run-up to Christmas, evidence that sales had been low.

He said the uncertainty over whether Malta would join the European Union or not needed to be resolved.

A salesgirl in a Valletta clothes shop said it had been a quiet day. In spite of the sale, she had sold next to nothing. However, she expected better business next week.

Gemma Gatt of Rabat is perhaps typical of some shoppers. Window shopping with her two children in Republic Street, she said that whenever she needed to buy new clothes or shoes, she made do with what she had and always waited for the sales.

She had also been given money at Christmas to spend during the sales. Although she had not bought anything by 10.30 a.m. she had seen a lot of items she was interested in but wanted to have a good look around before actually buying.

"I get so much more for my money in this way," she said.

On the other hand, Rita Pace of Birkirkara said she never waited for the sales to buy her clothes unless she happened to see something she liked.

She said she was in Valletta to spend some vouchers she had received as gifts.

Victor Fenech Azzopardi, president of the Republic Street Business Association, said it was customary for some people to wait for the January sales in order to get better value for money.

In spite of this, shops in Republic Street had reported better sales than usual in the week before Christmas.

A spokesman for the Consumer Affairs Department advised shoppers to be careful about what they bought during the sales and to check their items before taking them home.

The spokesman said consumers retained their rights during a sale while shop owners had the right not to replace returned items which had visible defects.

Consumers lost all their rights if they were informed of an item's shortcoming and they still chose to buy it.