Sales Weak at Malls on Election Day

In perhaps another sign that Israelis have had it with repeat elections, malls across the country said Wednesday that their “take” on Election Day was the weakest out of the three election days that have been held in the past year. While there were crowds, they were thinner than in the past, and income was lower as well.

According to Globes, the malls measure their financial success by the amount of money spent per square meter of the mall. On an average day in 2019, the income was NIS 50 per meter. That figure more than doubled on Election Day in September 2019, when income was NIS 116 per square meter. That was not as good as April’s Election Day, when income per square meter was NIS 126. On Monday, income was just NIS 89 per square meter.

The downturn on Monday was part of a greater trend. As a result of increased options for online shopping – especially due to Amazon’s free shipping to Israel – sales have been slipping at malls in recent months, with sales sinking 5.9% in February, Globes reported. Retail sales were down overall by 2.9%, the figures showed.