Courtesy of Mish.
As I watch the implosion of Greece, with shops closing everywhere and GDP plunging like a rock, I cannot help but wonder if we are witnessing the start of a similar trend in Italy.
To be sure, Italy has a manufacturing base that Greece does not have, but retail aspects and shop closings in Rome as compared to Athens seems rather similar.
If that sounds far-fetched, please consider Summer of gloom for crisis-hit Rome shops
It is not just stifling summer heat that is keeping shoppers at bay on Rome’s Via del Corso: as the economic crisis hits locals and tourists alike, many shops have little choice but to close for good.
The few people around seem to ziz zag from shop to shop, seeking relief from the heat in air-conditioned outlets and leaving behind frustrated shop assistants who struggle to sell anything despite discounts of up to 80 percent.
“The crisis has hit everyone,” sighed one empty-handed customer, while shopkeepers up and down the street whiled away their time folding and re-folding piles of brightly coloured T-shirts and stylish outfits.
“The sales have not gone well,” said clothes shop manager Fabio Anticoli. While the eternal city usually draws tourists from all over the world who spend their cash on Italian designs, “this year, it’s an impoverished tourism.”
The sales have gone “very badly” compared with 2011 according to the shopkeepers’ association Confesercenti, which reports a 20 percent drop in turnover in central Rome, a figure that rises to 40 percent in outer suburbs.
Lina Rocchi, a lingerie shop founded in 1938, closed down and left a sign that read “80 years, three generations, a story comes to an end.”
“1,500 shops in Rome have already closed their doors for good since the start of 2012, and the figure might rise to 2,500 by the end of the year,” said the association’s head Valter Giammaria.
According to a Confcommercio report, 80 percent of supermarkets and restaurants and more than 50 percent of bars are staying open this week despite a holiday on Wednesday because of the financial crisis.
Same Ordeals as Greece
The BBC reports Italy GDP Drops 4th Consecutive Quarter …
