The debt crisis and ensuing recession plaguing Greece has shut down some 15 percent of businesses in Athens, a study released by a leading trader association said on Monday.
The research, taking into account over 3,400 shops in both affluent and low-income districts, recorded an average closure rate of 14.8 percent, the national confederation of Greek commerce (ESEE) said.
The situation is especially serious in the centre of the capital -- which is also routinely blocked by street protests -- where between 20 and 25 percent of shops are locked up, ESEE said.
"Greek retail has been going through a strong crash test for a year," ESEE chairman Vassilis Korkidis said in a statement.
"The additional collapse of economic activity threatens the survival of businesses and puts major pressure on employment," Korkidis said.
One women's clothing store in central Athens has seen business drop steadily over the past two years since the beginnings of the global economic downturn.
With sales down 30 percent, the shop has had to make savings where it can, slashing its staff by half to leave six former sales assistants out of work.
"We expect things to get worse before they start getting better," Vicky Constantinou, the store's sales manager told AFP.
She said recent street riots against the government's austerity measures have made a bad situation worse. "The days when there are protests, we have to close the shop. Last month we had to shut for four or five days."
Greece is in the grip of a growing recession exacerbated by draconian austerity measures adopted by the government as it battles a debt crisis that recently forced the country to seek a massive bailout loan from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
The economy is expected to contract by four percent this year and by an additional 2.5 percent in 2011 while prices are expected to increase by 4.75 percent by the end of 2010, EU and IMF experts monitoring Greece's reforms said last week.
Unemployment was officially recorded at 11.9 percent in April with unions warning the real figures are much higher.
A previous study by ESEE found that the Greek retail sector risks losing 100,000 jobs overall from store shutdowns.
Copyright 2010 AFP Global Edition
