Retailing

Community Connect Athens meets on Wednesday, March 15, from 10.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at the Swedish Center in Plaka. Besides coffee, cake and conversation, participants can also stock up on used books, DVDs and CDs, as well as purchase quality secondhand garments, homemade preserves and handmade greetings cards. Proceeds benefit the Anglican Church and the charities it supports.

Price rather than quality is what consumers are mainly looking for when choosing their supermarket, the Research Institute of Retail Consumer Goods (IELKA) has found, adding that the hunt for bargains means that Greeks are no longer loyal to a particular chain.

Police in central Athens Thursday were seeking the perpetrators behind a raid on a supermarket in Exarchia on Wednesday.

A group of around 15 self-styled anarchists stormed into the supermarket, grabbed products from the shelves and fled, according to witnesses, who said the assailants briefly took a store employee hostage. 

The Competition Commission on Thursday issued its conditional approval of the Sklavenitis supermarket group's takeover of the outlets of its bankrupt rival Marinopoulos, demanding the sale of 22 stores belonging to the two chains (19 of them in Attica), and the increased protection of suppliers with a high dependence on the two major retailers.

The German police said on Friday they arrested two men on suspicion that they planned to carry out an attack in the town of Oberhausen.

Their target was one of the country's largest shopping centers.

Greek counterterrorism officials have launched an investigation after a post on an anti-establishment website warned of a plan to contaminate food products at supermarkets with chlorine and hydrochloric acid.

Police have announced a tightening of security around the country during the upcoming holiday season.

Among the measures announced were increased patrols at bus, train, tram and metro stations, in shopping areas and malls and outdoor markets.

Train stations, in particular, have been the target of anti-establishment groups in recent months.

The Christmas holidays are just around the corner, and despite the economic hardships facing the average Greek family, people are planning their shopping, while store owners hope to see a long awaited breather in their earnings. Holiday season shopping hours have taken effect from Sunday, December 11. These are the exact operation hours of stores during the holiday period:

The Economy and Development Ministry is set to expand the two midseason sale periods that currently last 10 days every May and November to 15 days each, and will allow for more flexibility as to their dates depending on the needs of the areas where stores are located.

Local authorities will be able to switch from two 15-day periods to three 10-day windows.

Neighborhood minimarkets and discount chains were last year's net gainers in food retailing (excluding open-air street markets). These two categories saw their turnover grow in 2015 compared to 2014, according to a report issued by research firm IRI.