Big summer sales hit Váci utca

Clothing stores along Budapest's most famous shopping street, Váci utca, are conducting summer sales with discounts of up to 70%, reports napi.hu. Zara, Promod and Mango dictate the trends which other nearby stores follow, and this year, they apparently decided that the best form of selling discounted clothes would be to offer them as Hungarian thrift stores do: in large boxes where customers can dig.

Hungarians call stores where second-hand clothing is sold turkáló or turi from the word for "digging," túr. Váci utca trendsetters always try to adapt to costumers' mood, which this year is - based on retail traffic data - very depressed. Clothing sales in particular decreased last year, and the decline continued this year. This means stores have to offer lower prices rather than a wider selection.

In addition, competition among fashion brands have increased on Váci utca and its pedestrian neighborhood. New Yorker and the Pull and Bear-Bershka-Stradivarius trio of the Zara group have opened on Vörösmarty tér. The Bizánc shoe store which offers luxury brands has rethought its price strategy, while van Laack at the Váci utca passage is showing an increasingly strong premium selection including a.testoni. Deák tér's Fashion Street development, which offers more premium brands, is also beginning to make a mark.

Summer sales have also started at stores not selling fashion clothing, such as Office Shoe, Foot Locker, Adidas and even crystal maker Swarowski, while service providers such as graphic artists drawing portraits for tourists and tour guides selling their services in the streets are also offering discounts.

Summer sales are less conspicuous at the city's enclosed shopping malls, however, and the reason is probably that they are still being visited by fewer tourists than Váci utca. While European trends are followed at downtown stores, and they are expected to start sales on July 1, some malls are still offering discounts of only 20%.

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