The new year brings rearrangements in the map of commercial real estate in the center of Patras, which created a foothold for many businesses with demands for increased rents.
Storefront rents for many businesses have now become unprofitable, especially for local commerce that is slowly being squeezed out of the tight confines of the historic center as it finds it increasingly difficult to support the high rents demanded by property owners.
According to the president of the Patras Chamber of Commerce, Kostas Zafeiropoulos, horizontal streets, which are also the most commercial, become an elusive dream for local businesses. “The cumulative arrival of multinational companies has brought rental prices to skyrocket in the heart of the historic center, combined with the upcoming pedestrianization of Maisons. Most businesses have accepted rent adjustments due to the upcoming footfalls, but the biggest problem is when contracts expire and they are faced with unreasonable demands, disproportionate to the dynamics of retail, regardless of the size of the business” states Mr. Zafeiropoulos to “Peloponnisos”.
At the same time, he points out that “the properties are concentrated in a few hands, who do not see the empowerment of the local community-business and forget that some of us took bad condition shops and turned them into palaces! We have seen in the recent past the movement of traditional shops to less commercial squares, a phenomenon that will continue due to the increase in rents which, together with energy, are a large monthly expense for the shops».
According to Mr. Zafeiropoulos, Mrit becomes a one-way street for those who want to stay in the center, their movement to other, less commercial points (vertical streets) and the phenomenon observed at the beginning of the economic crisis, of closing shops on the outskirts of the center and refilling at high prices due to demand.
The president of the EESP also mentions that many merchants prefer to move to the new commercial regional markets that are showing dynamics, such as in Akrotiri and Ellinos Stratiotou, where there are still reasonable prices in rental properties.
Regarding the arrival of the Fourlis group in the former ABEX, with IKEA and 5-6 more multinationals that will settle in the same shopping park, it will certainly bring changes to the commerciality of Patras, especially in the southern suburbs and the Akrotiri market.
«Such a large mall will demonstrate the metropolitan role of Patras, but also the imbalances that will exist. It will be a pole of attraction on the one hand for all SW Greece and the Ionian Islands, as it will mean an increase in visits to the city, and at the same time sharpen the fight between David and Goliath” said Mr. Zafeiropoulos, who emphasized the need for an initiative by strong local businessmen, to build a shopping center for local businesses, to be the rival awe.
The trade map under reconstruction
The member of the Board of the Trade Association of Patras and the faction “Commercial Renewal” Yiannis Roupas he told “Peloponnisos” that historic local businesses are moving away from the main streets of the city, giving way to large chains, which also flood the regional market, such as an electrical goods store co-owned by a multinational company and a new retail store owned by Polish interests in the Veso Mare shopping center or the new stores that will be created in the new ABEX shopping center, in which there will apparently be no local business.
Finally, let’s not forget the Patra Mall Sklavenitis in Perivola, where, in addition to the already existing multinational and national groups, new arrivals are expected.
Also, the large supermarkets, which following the time of the pandemic sell everything and shops in the regional markets that have been baptized “24 hours” now sell everything and remain open on all holidays under the pretext of the fact that they sell cigarettes and newspapers.
According to Yiannis Roupas, all of the above creates conditions of suffocation in the local traditional trade and in businesses that have supported the local market for many decades.
«The commercial map of the city will change. Of course, I am not sure that this will happen immediately, because with the dispersion of all these large stores in the regional markets, as well as with the intention of the municipal authority to pedestrianize Maisons, the rents even outside the traditional shopping streets are kept high by the owners, preventing local businesses from growing. This is how rents have soared, for example on Maizonos Street between Zaimis and Karolos, under the pretext of increasing mobility due to the relocation of the new City Hall.
The same happens in many other commercial streets of Patras, where shop owners demand very high rents, considering that the specific areas will turn into commercial “fillets” in a few years.
We see rents climbing even in areas that do not have high traffic today, at 20 to 25 euros per square meter. This is also the reason why we come across many empty small shops around the historic center of our city, which, in my opinion, are not going to be leased unless the prices are scaled down».
Mr. Roupas also mentions that local businesses also have to deal with the extended hours of large multinational and national chains.
«In 2024 our small businesses are being attacked from everywhere, trade is changing rapidly to the detriment of small local businesses. With the vehicle of the Trade Association, the most historic and oldest in Greece, small businesses should rally with a common goal, the survival of our businesses that even today create new jobs, support the local community and prevent the outflow of funds from the place where we were born» emphasizes Yiannis Roupas.
“We are not on Ermou Street in Athens”
«Some commercial property owners think we are on Ermou Street in Athens” commented to “Peloponnisos” the president of the Merchants’ Association of the Historical Center of Patras, Dimitris Paloubis, confirming the pressures faced by commercial businesses in the center for increased rents. “We are already starting to see businesses leaving high street downtown and long-term occupied commercial properties” he said.
According to Mr. Paloumpis, trade is currently in a phase of great recession. The reasons are financial, but there is also another reason. The spread of e-commerce is putting great pressure on brick-and-mortar stores. “People do their shopping, from their computer at home and on Saturdays when they have time, they don’t deal with that, but with fun. That’s where consumers have turned since the pandemic era and following. In addition, when people struggle with the cost of living, consumer priorities change».
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