Small businesses in Ibiza Town admit that it is becoming increasingly difficult to compete with large multinationals. “There are still many people who are aware of the importance of buying from local shops“, says Anna Reixach, representative of the Eivissa Centre traders’ association, who adds: “We will continue to work hard and keep selling, but we know it is very difficult to compete with big brands and with people who do their shopping from the comfort of their sofa”.
Just a fortnight before the start of Christmas — one of the best opportunities of the year to give visibility to local trade — Reixach is cautiously optimistic. She acknowledges that “last Black Friday went quite well” and has positive expectations for the Christmas campaign, although she does not hide the difficulties and points to the location of the Christmas market as a key issue: “Part of the appeal of shopping in Ibiza Town during the festive season lies in the craft market, but this is set up in Vara de Rey, that is, in an area where businesses do not need any kind of revitalisation, as it is where the large multinationals are located”. She adds: “It is local commerce that needs that boost. In this sense, we feel little support from Ibiza Town Hall”.
The situation of small businesses in Ibiza, she admits, is complex, since “customer numbers are falling, while fixed costs keep rising and our room for manoeuvre is getting smaller and smaller”. She therefore issues a serious warning: “We are fighting to get people to visit us and buy our products, because this is what keeps the city alive. A city without local commerce is a city without life”.
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