Clothing and footwear shopping outlets in Valletta reported a significant drop in turnover in the past two years, according to data published yesterday.
Although the data indicates that overall retail in these sectors improved slightly over the same period by 0.5 per cent, business is clearly moving out of the capital towards other shopping areas, particularly Sliema and Birkirkara.
Conducted by Deloitte and EMCS with the collaboration of Bank of Valletta, the first Malta Retail Review compared commercial information received from 113 retail outlets in the footwear and fashion sectors.
Although the number of shops revealing their data is still low compared to the amount of shops and turnover in these two retail areas, the data still points towards significant shifts in business. Valletta emerges as the biggest loser in this survey.
While businesses in the capital reported a significant 10.3 per cent decrease in turnover over the past two years, shop owners in Birkirkara increased their sales by 9.8 per cent, while those owning shops in Naxxar, San Ġwann, Attard and Iklin reported a turnover increase of 5.7 per cent.
Sales also increased in Gozo (5.3 per cent), St Julian’s (2.8 per cent) and Sliema (1.8 per cent).
Valletta retailers have been harping for a long time about the significant drop in revenue they are registering year-in-year-out and point their fingers towards lack of parking facilities and continuous infrastructural works which push shoppers towards other destinations.
Seizing the opportunity to press this point, GRTU president Paul Abela said these results confirm what his association has been saying for a long time.
“The authorities should take a good note of this data as it confirms that retail in Valletta is dying,” he said.
“We have been warning that with all these projects and construction rubble all over the place, Valletta businessmen will suffer. This data is proving us right.”
Chamber of Commerce president Tancred Tabone said that while it was evident that Valletta was currently suffering, the situation should return to much better times in the coming two years when the capital projects were completed.
The survey also marks other important aspects. Shopping malls, particularly Sliema’s The Plaza and The Point, have been growing significantly, with turnover increasing by 5.3 and 14.8 per cent respectively.
On the other hand, high street retail outlets reported a decrease of 6.4 per cent.
Franchises were also doing better than other brands, while large shops were normally managing boosting their sales at a faster pace than small shops.
Stefano Mallia from EMCS said this survey will now be conducted on a regular basis and more retail sectors will be included.