Greek retailers report worst Xmas sales in 10 years
According to initial estimations, Greek retailers this years have registered the worst Christmas sale in the past decade, dropping by 40% compared with 2011. Christmas sales of clothes and footwear compared with 2011 has declined by 50%, that of electric appliances by 40% and cosmetics and books by 30%, the National Confederation of Hellenic Commerce said. Even sales of food items ahead of Christmas this year has dropped by 20% compared to last year. Nationwide spending on food and gifts fell by 7.6 billion euros this month from 9.25 billion euros in December 2011, the Athens-based trade group said.