Mixed response from Summer Sales in the Alicante area.

FOUR weeks after the Summer Sales started expat business owners report a mixed response. Shoppers in Alicante Province will spend €85 per person in the Summer Sales which continue until September 3. This is more than the national average of €52, but substantially less than the €140 two years ago in the province.

Things are going from strength to strength at Women’s Clothing Store Dress 2 Impress in Villamartin. Business is so good in fact that they have recently opened a second store within the Flamenca Beach Commercial Centre at Playa Flamenca.

Carol Bullockthe owner of Women’s Clothing Store Dress 2 Impress in Villamartin and Palaya Flamenca said: “We have noticed a huge increase in the number of holidaymakers over the past few weeks, and the huge reductions which are currently available seem to have helped lure people inside”.

But May, the manager of Bijou By Angel, located in La Fuente Commercial Centre, Dehesa de Campoamor, which sells gift items, from ornaments and wall hangings to accessories, tells a different story: “It is extremely quiet, and very disappointing. People just cannot afford to spend money on luxury items even during this sales period”.

Even with impressive discounts of up to 45 per cent on handbags and 50 per cent on jewellery, business here remains slow.

Meanwhile, Debbie Mackleston, owner of The Electrical Shop at Blue Lagoon, explained that “Many people who own holiday homes in the area come out for the summer to find that their fridge or washing machine has packed in, or they need more fans, which are currently flying through the doors as fast as we can supply them!”

She explained that the advantage that they have is that the items which they sell are “necessities” as opposed to “luxury” purchases, adding that “On a busy day this week we sold 4 washing machines and 3 fridges, so the shop looked half empty!”

By Heidi Wardman