Athens retail hub gives way to tourism

Nearly one in four storefronts in Athens’ so-called commercial triangle, a traditional hub of economic activity bounded by Omonia, Syntagma and Monastiraki squares, are shuttered and its traditional commercial activity is waning in favor of businesses and services catering to the capital’s increasing tourist population, research shows.

The research, by the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB), is being conducted for the second year in a row and is sponsored by the municipality. Spyros Kafounis, president of the Athens Traders’ Association, has called the research a wonderful tool for the state and the municipality, a base for decision-making, but also useful for market professionals, with its documentation of trends.

Professor George Baltas, director of the AUEB Marketing Research Laboratory, who oversaw the research, points out two significant changes from last year. First, the decline of clothes and shoes retailers from 19.4% to 16.2% of retail spaces and the increase in hotels and other accommodation catering to tourists (from 2.9 % to 4.1%).

He points out that the use of ground-level storefronts as a measuring stick underrepresents the actual tourist activity, even though some of the shuttered storefronts are in buildings being converted to accommodation.

One of the notable features of the commercial triangle had been its thematic cohesiveness, with different trades concentrated in specific streets. This, too, is declining, Baltas says. Gold and silverware shops are disappearing, as are tool shops, and electronics and home equipment stores.

Some thematic hubs survive, such as clothing and shoe stores on Ermou Street, and hardware stores elsewhere.

“Thematic retail trade needs incentives to survive. It is important for the city center’s historic, cultural and social identity,” Baltas says.