City center shops in Oslo battered by the corona crisis
Bussines activity in central Oslo has more than halved compared to the same time last year.
Linda Vist, the industry director for trade in NHO Service og Handel, told newspaper Aftenposten that the cityscape had changed quite considerably in recent times.
She pointed out that while shopping centers and shops outside the city center are experiencing increased demand, the opposite is true for the city center shops.
“People are more at home; they do not take trains or buses into the city center. It affects the stores,” she noted.
Christmas spike?
But their forecasts for Christmas shopping, in general, show that the arrows will point upwards this year.
The estimates indicate that Norwegians will spend an average of NOK 12,160 each on retail trade in December.
They expect an increase in Christmas shopping of 7.6% compared to last year.
“Many have saved money in recent months, including from spending less on travel. The increase will especially come in e-commerce, where forecasts show an increase of up to 24% from last year,” Vist said.
The figure applies to Norwegian online stores.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
