Apparel retailers in Greece became witness to worst Christmas in several years with sales declining by as much as 40 percent compared to the same period in 2010, according to ESEE retail federation.
The consumer confidence is at a new low owing to debt crisis in the country, which has forced nine out of every ten Greeks to become less generous in spending, ESEE said.
The sharp decline in sales was in spite of large amount of discounts offered by retailers in the days up to Christmas.
The remarkable drop in sales has robbed away any optimism that existed among the retailers before the Christmas holidays.
The recession in Greece is currently in its fourth year. In addition, there is rising inflation and people have been putting up with wage and pension cuts. All this has led to a decline in standard of living of Greeks, and they have been forced to cut spending.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India