Although the common perception of Valletta is that of a working city, in the past years it has witnessed a mass exodus of businesses. Veronica Stivala speaks to brothers Alex and Ray Anastasi, whose shoe shop has been in Valletta since time immemorial and Michael and Beatrice Zarb, who took their household shop out of Valletta in 2010.

Valletta’s got sole

You could say the Anastasi shoe shop opposite St John’s Co Cathedral in Valletta has become as much a landmark as the cathedral itself.

Our dad always used to tell us there were five shoe shops in Valletta, two in Ħamrun and another two in Bormla. Now there are over 100 shoe shops in Valletta alone.

When the charismatic brothers Alex and Ray Anastasi, who have been working in the shop since they were still at school, are asked about its history, they themselves struggle to calculate how many generations the business goes back, though a consensus is reached that the pioneer was probably their great-grandfather.

The Anastasi shoe shop has seen days when people were so poor they would only buy one pair of shoes a year – at the time, shoes were made from tyre rubber and animal skins from the local slaughterhouses. The shop even survived World War II bombings, during which it had to relocate temporarily to Zachary Street.

With such a rich history that goes back so many generations, it is easy to understand one of the reasons why the business has remained in Valletta.

That, and the fact that the shop is still under the old rent laws, meaning that they only need to pay a pittance for the next 16 years or so, keeps the Anastasi brothers in the capital city.

Did they ever consider moving out of Valletta?

“We had opened a branch in Buġibba while still maintaining the Valletta one and up to 10 years ago we would have considered moving out,” says Ray.

However, the brothers now admit that because they are both reaching the end of their careers, they have no plans to change much in the way they run their business and are simply holding on to what they have.

They are aware that should the business be continued, it would need a radical overhaul and dynamic owners due to steep competition, expensive rents and the complete change in the workings of the business.

“The regular customer doesn’t exist anymore. People buy depending on where they are and what they see. Customers know what they want nowadays so shops have to cater for their needs,” says Alex.

In addition to this, whereas in the past, there was a balance in supply and demand, now there are far more shops and they need to be constantly ahead of the game in order to keep sales up.

“Our dad always used to tell us there were five shoe shops in Valletta, two in Ħamrun and another two in Bormla. Now there are over 100 shoe shops in Valletta alone,” says Alex.

That said, although the younger Anastasi generation would also be sad to see the family business fade into inexistence, they are not keen to carry it on because they already have their own careers.

The brothers point out how a number of factors – such as the new public transport system, the continuing decrease in the number of parking spaces and the steep rise in the cost of parking one’s car in or near the capital city – have resulted in a massive fall in the number of customers.

Ray points out that, thankfully, things still pick up in the summer months when tourists flock to the city.

“The number of foreign customers has gone up while Maltese customers have declined.”

That their shop is located in front of one of the country’s prime touristic landmarks is most definitely a plus.

Time will only tell what is to come of this shoe shop that has such strong ties with the capital city and its regulars.

Moving household

Petrolea owner Michael Zarb was president of the Merchant Street business community right up until the day the business left Valletta.

On speaking to the enterprising businessman, it is evident that the decision to move the household goods outlet out from the capital city to Msida in 2010 was a difficult one.

A large, framed photo of Merchant Street sits perched prominently on the mantelpiece in Michael’s office, a symbol of the strong ties he still has with the capital city.

“Merchant Street is still very much at heart in our business and in our investment,” explains Michael.

It is easy to understand this great attachment when one considers all the hard work Michael put into the improvement of this street, including turning it into a pedestrian zone.

Petrolea had been a staple of Merchant Street since its foundation at number 26 in 1891. The outlet had the first public clock on the island and like the Anastasi shoe shop was bombed during WWII. It was rebuilt completely following the war and in 1996 was enlarged from 110 to 320 square metres.

“We invested heavily in the business,” says Michael.

Unfortunately, Michael had seen a drastic drop in sales in their Valletta outlet, forcing the move.

The main reason for this, explains its owner, is because in addition to the houseware, kitchenware and giftware, Petrolea now sells bigger items of furniture such as outdoor furniture, barbecues and so on.

“These products will not sell from the city,” says Michael.

Explaining further, Petrolea’s Managing Director, Beatrice, Michael’s daughter, says that, “Life has become so rushed nowadays that people want their products there and then. They want to be able to take them, put them in the car and leave. That commodity has ended in Valletta.”

Since the introduction of the Park and Ride scheme, the Zarbs have seen a drop in people coming to Valletta. There are many who are still ‘afraid’ to come to Valletta, they point out. Further proof of this, notes Michael, is that even though the business moved out of Valletta almost two years ago, many people weren’t even aware of this as they have avoided the city for a number of years.

Also, in the last few years, the business experienced a very negative situation when it came to wedding lists. People simply called and asked for whatever was available on the list in order to avoid coming to Valletta.

Michael admits that moving out of Valletta means they have lost the ‘impact’ sales in Christmas, for example.

“In our new location, our customers come to us because they know we’re there and they want something specific. In Valletta customers would pop into our store while shopping around and pick things they like off the shelf,” he says.

Since the introduction of the Park and Ride scheme, the Zarbs have seen a drop in people coming to Valletta.

That niche of customers has decreased but now they have more of a consistent flow of customers.

Michael emphasises that he doesn’t want to be negative about the situation and does hope that things will change for the better. Indeed they haven’t relinquished the Valletta property and are renting it out.

“We are still very much involved. The success of Valletta is still very important for us,” he says.

Valletta is missing out on a lot because of accessibility both during the day and evenings. Unlike any capital city in the world, once the shops close, Valletta is a dead city.

In order for things to get better there needs to be an improvement in accessibility, says Michael remarking positively on the recent development of the linking tunnel from below City Gate to South Street and the re-building of the Barrakka lift.