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Friday afternoon is very quiet at Karl Johan in Oslo. On one of Norway’s busiest shopping streets, the Christmas lights have not even been hung.
– At least I plan to buy a lot of Christmas gifts online, says Ingrid Jørgensen when TV 2 meets her on the almost deserted shopping street.
– Why?
– Simply because I’m a little paranoid about the exits.
Red numbers after power off
More than a week ago the government asked all Norwegians, again, to stay at home as much as possible. This has led to far fewer customers in physical stores in Oslo, especially in the clothing and footwear industry.
– The industries that had problems in 2020 were clothing and footwear, and they also had a very bad time during the first closure. Then there were a lot of difficult roofs and some had to be closed completely. We see these are struggling a bit now too, Virke’s industry director Bror Stende tells TV 2.
Kaja Sæther is the general manager of the Qomo clothing store in Torggata in Oslo. They are noticing a significant drop in turnover after Oslo’s infection control measures were tightened last Friday. Photo: Odd Arne Hartvigsen
Kaja Sæther is the General Manager of Grünerløkka’s Qomo store. They have had to reduce the opening hours of the small clothing store to avoid laying off employees.
– Actually, the summer has been quite good, but now you see that it goes back down with new rules, he says.
Now they are doing their best to get customers to buy with them. Despite the fact that they ship goods across the country through the online store, they are still completely dependent on customers in the physical Torggata store.
– We still want the customer to come. As long as you can keep your distance and spread your fingers and things like that.
– There will be deaths in the store if the customer does not come, continues the store manager.
Depending on the Christmas shopping
Also on Norway’s longest shopping street, Bogstadveien, it’s a quiet November in the shops. Family-run clothing store Nordseth is particularly notable in declining sales of party wear.
Harald Nordseth owns a store and is concerned as much about his own store as he is about the other stores on the same street.
Harald Nordseth says they are completely dependent on the Christmas trade to survive in a tough industry. Photo: Odd Arne Hartvigsen
– It is the Christmas purchase that this industry lives on and on which it depends to open its doors again on January 1, he says.
Ask the government for help
The Virke trade organization believes the government should come up with better compensation and firing schemes for the retail industry, before it’s too late.
– There are many small independent stores that are struggling. They will go bankrupt if they don’t get help, says Bror Stende.
But the government will provide no more support than the general compensation scheme they introduced earlier this week.
– If the company has more than a 30 percent drop in turnover, compared to last year, it will enter the scheme. Then up to 70 percent of the fixed and unavoidable costs can be covered, Trade and Industry Minister Iselin Nybø tells TV 2.
