Shopping mall visitor rate down to 23 pct

ISTANBUL

Some 420 shopping malls were visited by 1.2 million people on May 11, when they were reopened after being closed for more than a month voluntarily to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the association of shopping center investors.

In the pre-pandemic period, daily average visitor figure for the shopping malls across the country was around 6.5 million, Hüseyin Altaş told a private broadcaster on May 13.

“On the first day [of the reopening], the entrance rate was 23 percent [compared to pre-pandemic period], which corresponds to 1.2 million people. On the second day, there were some 1.1 million visitors. The trend is just as we had estimated,” he said, sharing his expectation that the visitor rate will increase to 70 percent in September.

The shopping malls were closed by operators after the Interior Ministry banned restaurants, cafes and recreational areas due to the pandemic.

Many stores inside the malls are planning to reopen as of June 1.

Retail sales volume with constant prices in the Turkish economy slightly dropped 0.2 percent year-on-year in March, according to official figures released on May 14.

The highest annual fall was seen in non-food sales - except automotive fuel - with 8.7 percent, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) said.

Automotive fuel sales also dropped 3.2 percent, while food, drinks and tobacco sales posted a 17 percent rise year-on-year in March.

Among the non-food sectors, the volume of textile, clothing and footwear sales plummeted 28.5 percent, and computers, books, telecommunications equipment dropped 6.5 percent.

Volume of medical goods and cosmetic sales went up 7.4 percent while electronic goods and furniture sales fell 4.1 percent.

Meanwhile, sales by mail orders and online climbed 48.3 percent year-on-year in March.