Business this Christmas looked good and changes in the CVA system in Valletta contributed to a larger turnover of customers, according to some shop owners.
They were speaking to Small Business Minister Chris Cardona who was touring Republic Street outlets yesterday.
At the beginning of this month, it was announced that no CVA charges would apply for vehicles accessing Valletta after 2pm on weekdays and all day on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
Plans of a new car park in Valletta had been mentioned by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat during the Budget debate last month.
He had announced that a call for expressions of interest for the car park would be issued together with those for the White Rocks complex in Pembroke and a yacht marina at Sa Maison, in Pietà.
This is a very important time because it either makes or breaks the year
The call for expressions of interest for the Valletta car park would be made at the beginning of next year, Dr Cardona said.
Compared to last winter, business was doing well on a national level and figures confirmed it was going to be a good Christmas, he told this newspaper.
Measures taken over the past months, including changes to the CVA system, deliveries within the capital and rubbish collection times were helping, he said.
The Republic Street shop owners told Dr Cardona that some of the outlets had been open since the beginning of the 20th century and one had opened for business more than 150 years ago.
Sterling Jewellers director Alfred Fenech said this year felt like 2008, which, although not the best of years, was the best in these last five years.
“This is a very important time for our business because it either makes or breaks the year,” he said, adding it was calculated that about 40 per cent of his company’s yearly income was generated around Christmas.
Darmanin Footwear director Paul Darmanin agreed that business was faring better than last year, especially in the second part of the day due to changes to the CVA system.
Dr Cardona was accompanied during the tour by members of the Republic Street Business Community Association, including the treasurer, Andrew Vaswani, and Labour MEP candidate Lino Bianco.