Pragmatic retail

Shopping holiday canceled – retailers pragmatic

Traditionally, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8 is a public holiday that generates a lot of sales for retailers. This year, however, it falls on a Sunday, so the stores have to stay closed. We asked how this affects the mood in Tyrolean retail.

For many employees, it is always a little annoying when a public holiday falls on a Sunday - because they miss out on an additional day off. The opposite is true for retailers: the fact that December 8 is a Sunday this year means that stores miss out on a very important working day.

"We are normally open on this day, but this year everything will be closed," explains Simon Franzoi, Head of the Retail Division at the Tyrolean Chamber of Commerce.

Hoping for flexibility from customers
However, although the public holiday has traditionally always been a very busy shopping day, "there is no major annoyance," says Franzoi, "simply because we can't change it anyway."

Of course, they were happy about the day, and they have also come together well with their employees, but the divisional managing director does not expect any major losses: "It is unlikely that there will be drastically lower sales because of one day. It will be spread over other days, as customers are flexible. We also see from our surveys that customer behavior changes from year to year."

The interim results based on the feedback we receive from retailers, shopping centers and city marketers are good.

Simon Franzoi, Spartengeschäftsführer Handel in der WK Tirol

Optimistic despite difficult conditions
According to Franzoi, this year's Christmas business has got off to a good start so far. "We already have two strong weekends behind us, are looking forward to this one and are expecting two more." A positive mood is needed now, "it's been a difficult year".

Even if - as reported - many are planning to spend less money on Christmas presents this year, retailers are in good spirits: "Of course, it's not yet possible to make a final assessment, but the interim balance based on the feedback we've received from retailers, shopping centers and city marketing is good."

Incidentally, stores that are also open on other Sundays - such as souvenir stores, supermarkets at train stations or in tourist regions - are not closed on the Feast of the Assumption.