Germany's Retailers See Modest Start to Advent Season
November 30 2015 - 03:32AM
Dow Jones News
By Nina Adam
FRANKFURT--Germany's retailers made a "modest start" to the
important Christmas-shopping season, according to the HDE retail
association, amid heightened security following the deadly
terrorist attacks in Paris earlier this month.
"In many city centers, customers are not really in Christmas
spirit yet," the HDE's managing director said Sunday. "We have
still room for improvement," Stefan Genth said. The trade group
forecast a 2% nominal increase in sales in November-December from
the same period last year.
This sober assessment comes after GfK market research group said
Friday that Germans will spend less on Christmas presents this year
but donate more to help authorities cope with the growing refugee
crisis.
Many shopkeepers fear that concerns over a potential attack on
home soil will keep people away from the high-street and the
roughly 2,500 traditional Christmas markets that usually attract
over 50 million visitors annually.
In a separate publication, Germany's statistical office said
Monday that retail sales in October fell 0.4% from September,
adjusted for seasonal swings and calendar effects. A poll of
economists in The Wall Street Journal had forecast a monthly
increase of 0.4%.
It was the third straight month of disappointing retail sales,
but the figures could be revised in a second reading. Retail sales
in Europe's largest economy were up 2.1% from October last year,
adjusted for inflation.
Write to Nina Adam at nina.adam@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 30, 2015 03:17 ET (08:17 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.