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In contrary to the efforts invested so far by retail store owners to prolong the work hours in order to encourage sales, the director of Ilirika Real Estate, Mr. Žarko Kovačić, is proposing reduced work hours of the shopping malls, to either open later or close earlier.

He also suggested to Zagreb mall owners and other parts of continental Croatia to be closed on Sundays during July and August, since the shoppers will be reduced in numbers due to the summer holiday season. His suggestions are supported by the fact that there has been a 17 % decrease in sales in Q1 2009, in comparison to the same period of 2008, and now tenants in the shopping malls are having difficulties covering their lease obligations. He pointed out the case of the US Westfield Group that, in agreement with their tenants, decided to open their shopping malls one hour later and closing them a half an hour earlier. They calculated 500,000 euro of savings in their 55 shopping malls. “Retail stores experienced a drastic decrease in sales and are requesting lower lease rates, threatening to move out. One of the shopping malls has reduced their prices from 20 euro per m2 to 11 euro. It is in their interest to retain the tenants and that is why they are forced to lower the lease rates. The price reduction cannot go on indefinitely, so reducing the work hours will enable savings for everybody and maintain the stability of the lease prices. The worst scenario are store closings,’’ explains Kovačić. Reactions to this idea differ. While some have already started applying the idea, others are completely against it. The Managing Director of the shopping centre Mandi, Mr. Dragutin Mamić, says that they are negotiating the reduction in work hours with their tenants. The Mandi retail store within the Mandi center has already reduced its work hours by opening it one hour later and are thinking of reducing it even more. “The idea has proved to be successful. In one week, we saved 7 hours and reorganized our workforce. The tenants are requesting lower lease rates due to the downturn in sales and we are negotiating reduced work hours. Foodstuff companies are mostly at odds with this idea. We are also thinking about keeping the centre closed on Sundays during holiday season, since there will be very few buyers. I believe we will have substantial savings,” said Mamić.