Phil Johnson On Set 
Image by stevegarfield
{Title} On the 4,000 companies, commercial and small manufacturing, nationwide cease operation each month from June 2010 onwards. The phenomenon of “padlocks” has reached explosive proportions, not only in Attica but also in other major urban centers in the country and especially in Thessaloniki, Patras, Volos and Larissa.
In data collected by the Central Union of Greek Chambers (UHCCI), only four months June – September 2010, 16,000 businesses closed. Necessary clarification: even if some of them stopped functioning due to retirement or voluntary resignation from the profession, not replaced by new or did not exist, the vast majority of cases successor. Proof? Details of the Athens Chamber of Crafts (BEA) for the entries and deletions from the business register. Therefore according to them, In the January – October 2010 were established in the capital until 1405 craft enterprises, while at the same time shut down 2657. Thus, the ratio up to holiday shape now 1:2 instead of 1:1 which was until recently. The contraction of the craft is actually much larger than the numbers that appear in the records of the chamber, as many companies cease business not inform the Chamber and are still operating as. On the other hand, many companies set up in fact mask an employment which, for insurance purposes, take the form of business (eg a self-service).
Worrying is an image still and parts of Greece, which until recently were among the most prosperous as Crete. According to the Chamber of Heraklion, in the nine months January – September this year, a total of 168 businesses have opened and closed 329. The corresponding nine months last year opened 193 and closed 259 companies.
A similar situation prevails in the prefecture of Chania. According to data from the chamber where the first seven months of January – July in the commercial sector were 99 entries and 93 deletions in the craft sector records 58 and 74 deletions and for professional records 331 and 206 deletions.
Clearer picture, however, the nationwide “map of padlocks” is expected to emerge later this month, as requested UHCCI and full details of all the chambers, and in close cooperation on the same subject with the National Confederation of Greek Commerce (ESEE).
The latter has already begun to record the “locks” in the central commercial streets of Athens, Thessaloniki, Larissa, Kavala, Kozani, Veria and Edessa. This survey shows that one in seven stores in main shopping streets of the Basin has been closed in recent months as a result of economic crisis and the resulting reduction in domestic demand. Specifically, a total of 3,421 stores in main shopping streets of Athens, Marousi, Nea Ionia, Kifissia, Halandri, Kallithea and Piraeus, 505 have been shut down, a rate that is 14.8%. In the city center, closed shops proportionately more, 215 or a total of 1252 rate 17.2%, while the Stadium and University streets percentage of closed shops of all rising dramatically, 25% and 20% respectively.
In Thessaloniki, a total of 1239 stores have closed the 125, a figure that is 10.1%. The biggest blow has been the market Egnatia, the proportion of closed shops in the total reaches 15%. In Larissa, a total of 1,256 stores, the researchers recorded the ESEE 131 closed 11.5%. And there are roads like Highway Pan, where one in four stores has put “padlock” in recent months.
In Kavala, a total of 412 stores have closed the 43 (10.1%) in Kozani closed 82 stores in total 456 (18%), Veria closed 58 stores in total 655 (8.9%), while in Edessa closed shops reaching 15.6% of the total (68 out of 437).
Demeter Manifava
Pinch TV
7-11-2010
