Shop closures may come in Hungary

Small stores in shopping malls are not expecting good Christmas sales as buyers’ incomes are being squeezed by rising food and energy prices while they are not expected to get a discount on rent. Many may opt to close.

The Christmas season this year will not bring any relief for businesses selling non-essential goods: food is the first item on households’ shopping lists, followed by energy. If there is still any disposable income left, many are expected to use it to pay off debts, leaving clothes, travel and technical goods as the last items on the list, writes Mfor, which questions the implications of this.

Norbert Csordás, general manager of the Devergo group, said they were looking at opening some of their stores in shopping centers half an hour later and closing them the same amount earlier on weekdays, which could save some energy.

Employees will be in work clothes, willing to endure colder temperatures than usual, both in shops and in common areas. But they are firmly opposed to being closed on Sundays.