Both Zara and Pull & Bear are closing down in Faro’s main shopping street.
Inditex, the group that controls the two clothing retail brands, has come under immediate fire from the local Social Democratic party’s Ofélia Ramos who has expressed her, "amazement and concern" about the announced closures and the "serious damage" that this action will bring to "all operators and for the traditional commerce of the county.”
Ramos believes that the redevelopment of the downtown shopping area and the creation of better security have revived the area, "with good results for all those who have invested there," by refurbishing and opening new stores.
"In the circumstances, it seems to me to be quite clear that the shops in question, especially Zara, does not suffer from a demand or income problem,” adds Ramos in a letter sent to Nuno Leitão, the local head of the Inditex Group.
Ramos adds that the retail group has "yielded to the temptation to make real estate gains from the retail space, instead of asserting its social responsibility as a business powerhouse."
The local Social Democratic party urges the €18 billion turnover Spanish clothing group to rethink its decision in the light of the commercial stability of the entire downtown area, as well as that of hundreds of families whose income exclusively is associated with traditional commerce."
Both Pull & Bear and Zara recently opened stores in the new Mar Shopping complex at the IKEA site near Loulé. Whether the two decisions are linked - opening at Mar and closing down in Faro - remains the unanswered question.
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