Spain retailers cheer signs of Christmas recovery
Madrid
FROM department stores to delicatessens, Spanish retailers are anticipating their best Christmas in years as shoppers gear up for a spending spree that should help extend an economic recovery and boost a struggling jobs market.
Tax cuts, low inflation and falling energy prices have helped bump up stretched family budgets this year and, with a national election due next month, the government will hope the positive effects of a Christmas splurge rub off on voters.
Businesses believe this year's retail campaign, widely expected to be the most successful since 2008 when the downturn began, may also mark the turning point the country has been hoping for since it exited recession in mid-2013. "Not everything that was lost has come back, and we're not back to 2007 levels (in revenues), but some of it has been recovered," said Alberto Marti, whose family-owned company produces gift hampers packed with Iberian ham, fine wines and sweets, which businesses traditio…
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Consumer & Healthcare
Marina Bay Sands Q1 profit surges 51.5% to US$597 million on tourism boom
Swiss watch exports plunge as China and Hong Kong demand dries up
Cutting the cord?: Events leading up to Cordlife’s MOH suspension and arrests of its directors, ex-group CEO
Billionaires selling cheap stuff get richer from inflation pain
Amazon to push cashierless shopping tech into more third-party stores, while backing off itself
Japan’s Uniqlo opens Rome store as part of European expansion