Outlet store

Visits by shoppers to outlet malls in Turkey exceeded the pre-coronavirus pandemic level, people from the industry said, noting that the retail industry is one of the main beneficiaries of the improvement in the COVID situation.

McArthurGlen Athens at Spata, eastern Attica, will be the focus of union protests this Sunday against the opening of stores on Sundays and unofficial holidays.

Facing the risk of a big Boxing Day row that looked set to erupt due to plans by some retail chains in Greece to open the day after Christmas, Labor Minister Effie Achtsioglou hastened on Wednesday to introduce an obligatory holiday on December 26 for all enterprises that are usually closed on Sundays. Meanwhile retailers are asking for state protection when they do open on Sundays.

Plans by discount designer outlet mall McArthurGlen Athens to open on Boxing Day, December 26, when stores in Greece traditionally remain closed, have drawn an angry response even before being officially announced.

Shoppers reach out for television sets at a department store in Athens on Friday. The Black Friday sales appeared to beat retailers' expectations as hundreds of customers lined the streets outside the city's most popular department stores long before sunrise.

McArthurGlen Athens has sent a protest letter to the economy minister as the stores (except for the food service enterprises) at its outlet village in Spata, close to Eleftherios Venizelos Airport, have been excluded from a decision allowing shops to open every Sunday from May to October every year.

With Black Friday less than 24 hours away, many major retailers are offering shoppers great post-Thanksgiving deals of up to 80% off their regular prices. Some of the big names participating in this year’s shopping frenzy are Public, River West, Media Markt, Factory Outlet, Gap, Οysho, Germanos and Plaisio.