The coincidence of Sunday, a public holiday for the majority, with the start of the winter sales was an incentive for many shoppers who did not want to miss the first day of discounts, which in some cases reached up to a 80% A day in which customers eager to find the best bargains came together in the shops with those who were returning or changing the size of some of the gifts that the Kings of the Orient had left them.
Whatever the reason, the major shopping centers such as the Portal de l’Àngel, in Barcelona, ??and the shopping centers generally had a very good atmosphere on the first official day of sales. What seems to have happened in history are the images seen so often on television of hundreds of people waiting for the opening of department stores to enter the stampede in search of the best offer. Internet shopping and the liberalization of trade, which now allow discounts at any time of the year, have contributed to this.
While the big chains and franchises mostly opened, some smaller businesses chose to keep their shutters down after the exhausting Christmas campaign. Despite inflation, Comertia, the employers’ association for family trade and retail, predict sales similar to those of last year, although turnover will be 5% higher due to the increase in costs. The cold these days will help to give way to the large amount of stock of winter clothing that has been accumulating in the warehouses because there have been temperatures rather spring until well into autumn. The local trade predicts that the average expenditure per person will range between 75 and 80 euros.
