Corona crisis a boost to retailers

Some are feeling the devastating impact of the corona pandemic more than others.

Faroese retailers have been making big profits as the public have been unable to travel abroad and even go out to enjoy a dinner at a local restaurant.

The public have instead been spending their money on buying furniture, paint, clothes and food.

This is reflected in figures from the House of Industry, which show a significant increase in retail sales in the past couple of months compared with the same period last year.

Furniture and clothes

One of the retailers seeing a big increase in sales is furniture and household store Vøruhúsið á Hjalla.

“We’ve heard many of our customers say that this year’s holiday money will go on improving their homes instead of travelling,” says Vøuhúsið CEO Peter Mouritsen.

The same applies to fashion store Hvíthús in Klaksvík, where the first few weeks after the lockdown were tough, but then sales suddenly hit the roof, according to store owner Mona Rasmussen.

Happy days for grocery stores

Grocery stores are also seeing a big surge in sales.

“We have seen a significant increase in sales during the lockdown period as everyone now eats at home and very few people leave the country,” says Bassi Haraldsen, who manages several grocery stores across the country.

Translated by prosa.fo