Retailers Association Expects Flat Sales Next Year in Germany

HDE, the German retailers’ association, has announced that it expects sales at stagnate in 2009, but said it expects them to be good during the upcoming Christmas season.

 The Wirtschaftswoche magazine cited HDE
president Josef Sanktjohanser as saying, specialist, fashion and
department stores were likely to be the hardest hit, while food
retailers were not seen as being vulnerable. He added that the
industry is not likely to benefit much due to the rescue packages
being offered to banks by the government, saying that the effects of
the package could evaporate soon. He claimed that tax cuts would have
been preferable to bank aid, as this would have helped wider segments
of the population and would have boosted spending.

For the
2008 Christmas season, Sanktjohanser said he was "still
relatively optimistic". He noted that before the current crisis,
unemployment in Germany had fallen, incomes had grown, and energy
costs had started to come down. The HDE reiterated its forecast that
total retail sales in Germany would rise 1.5% year-on-year, in
nominal terms, for all of 2008.