Some trade associations are advocating the same freedom of opening that the sector already enjoyed during the 2008 crisis. Businesses are facing losses of 25 billion euros in sales due to a lack of activity in the midst of the economic uncertainty of the coronavirus crisis and are hoping that this measure will help them recover consumption and guarantee employment after this period of recession, according to the economic news page, Invertia.
The claim is based on the Association of Large Distribution Companies (Asociación de Grandes Empresas de Distribución, Anged), which includes companies such as El Corte Inglés and Ikea. This association is convinced that if this request is approved, commerce will experience a better adaptation to the new model of consumption expected after the coronavirus crisis.
Anged ensures that making opening hours more flexible would help operators to facilitate security in stores, help with managing customer traffic and control of capacity throughout the day. In addition, the employer explains that allowing stores to choose their own opening hours will create a climate of security that will combat the psychological fear of users. The aim is also to regain consumer confidence.
E-commerce is another reason why businesses have asked for this measure. In this sense, the sector understands that it must have 'weapons' to compete with online businesses that have the opportunity to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
In parallel with this request, the Spanish Association of Shopping Centres and Parks (Asociación Española de Centros y Parques Comerciales, AECC) has also been in touch with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism requesting that such centres have the ability to open every Sunday and holiday in 2020 and 2021. This is a plan that has been rejected by the Confederation of Commerce in Madrid (Cocem), because it believes it is unfair to small businesses.
This is a theory that is shared by Leticia Ponz, head representative office of Union Investment in Spain, who has already explained the negative consequences that the coronavirus will leave in small businesses. "The small operator with their business in a shopping centre is going to have a very difficult time surviving, because the cost of being open when this situation is over exceeds their income due to the fact that consumer demand will fall a lot. However, large operators will be able to stay open longer, and even open on Sundays if allowed, because they have greater financial backing," Ponz explained at a digital meeting organized by IE.
Article seen at: Abrir los siete días, la solución del comercio para proteger la salud de los compradores (Invertia)