Algarve traders say it's "no surprise" that Zara is closing down in Faro

Paul Rees 17 January 2018

zarashop The Algarve regional trade association, ACRAL, is requesting a meeting with the management of the Spanish group Inditex to request explanations about the closure of the Zara and Pull & Bear stores in Faro’s premier shopping street,

"These are two anchor stores, essential to the dynamism of local commerce in the downtown area," the association's president Álvaro Viegas said, lamenting the closures which he says are linked to the opening of Mar Shopping near Loulé.

According to the Viegas, it is no surprise that Inditex has pulled out of Faro to concentrate on the new shopping centres as ACRAL has been warning this would happen for at least 18 months.

As no formal explanation was issued by Inditex, ACRAL decided to request a meeting with the company's management which may or may not be interested in discussing the matter.

Bruno Lage, president of the parish covering the Faro shopping street said the decision of lamentable, but hopes the closures won’t happen.

"It would be a serious blow to the commercial dynamics of downtown Faro, which in recent years has, with the help of all, committed to revitalising this area of the city and has achieved frankly encouraging results, with a greater number of visitors as well as an increase in turnover along with traditional trade," said Lage, adding that Faro "has given a lot to the Inditex group" and that this symbiosis "is, undoubtedly, an added value that must be maintained."

Comments

+1 #6 Peter Booker 2018-01-19 08:45

The death of the shopping mall is probably quite a lot to do with on-line shopping. Some cities in the US are overrun with delivery vans, which can find nowhere to park. The problem gets worse with people getting their groceries delivered to their workplaces.

+1 #5 Mr John 2018-01-18 20:14

I've been reading on Zero Hedge for many years now the death of the shopping mall in the United States, i wonder if it will happen here, i see in the Mar shopping center many people wandering around, how many actually shop there,, i don't, its a horrible place.

0 #4 Chip 2018-01-18 19:07

It's just old fashioned competition.

Not necessarily bad.

+2 #3 Charly 2018-01-18 10:15

Dear James, it's true in quasi all shopping centers one finds allways the same brands together. The reason is that "there is a kind of Mutual agreement" among brand holders "to stick together". A shopping mall developer only starts making a shopping mall on the condition "the cluster" participates. Meaning that only on that condition the project will be financially feasable and viable . The summum of such an example of "clustering" exists in HOLLAND : in each town the main shopping street shows only in each town exactely the same brands and the same shops (from the cluster). Such a system has inconveniants but it has probably more (economical and financial) advantages.

+6 #2 James999 2018-01-18 07:32

Shopping malls suck all life out of town and city centres.
Tragically all the shopping malls have identical stores making for a bland,lifeless experience.
The planners have got it so badly wrong in the Algarve,concentrating on cheap ugly developments and low end tourism.Such a shame.

+5 #1 Charly 2018-01-17 20:01

Are they really all so stupid not to know in advance what would be the (desatrous) impact of the new shopping centre on the existing (old) shopping centres plus on the businesses in the surrounding towns ? How stupid is that ...

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