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Summer sales, which this year will reach record levels, start tomorrow. Traders rip off prices by 70% for a “good day” to persuade customers to enter the store.

Turnover fell between 40-50% for the last year although its downtrend lasted more than three years seriously bothering shopkeepers. “We hope to attract the few consumers left with record discounts,” says George Salahas, general director of a company offering household commodities and selling the products of the British Ηabitat.

To turn their luck and make it work for them traders are ready to drop prices, but not by 70% because this would be suicidal for small shops, says the owner of a clothing store in downtown Athens. She added that the big chains, which are also producers of the goods, can afford large reductions.

Owners will try to distinguish periods of constant promotions, which run for a second consecutive year wth large discounts. Promotions reached their peak in early July, when small and large traders, small shops and large chains of branded stores tried to get up from the 50% over-fall in sales for the period from April to June. Wholesalers reduced their prices by around 30-40% in the last days of promotions and many of them offered and fat checks for gifts thus increasing customer benefits three times.

“Turnover falls for the third year,” says Alexis Tsandilis, director of branded chain stores for women's accessories. Discounts there will be between 40-60%, and will reach 80% in the central store of the chain as it will be closed in the summer.

Many of the traders are determined to reduce the number of their stores to reduce costs and many of them have frozen their plans for development as the reduced turnover and inability to take a loan do not contribute to the creation of development conditions. Traders intend to increase the discounts at the end of the season, and to discount goods that were not offered at reduced prices in the previous years. According to traders decline will continue until the first six months of 2011 and they predict that the situation will be the hardest in September. The sales will continue from 15 July to 31 August.