This Friday, Black Friday, some shops will be opening as early as 6am, GRTU CEO Abigail Mamo said. “Black Friday is a phenomenon happening across all of Malta. In preparation, many retail outlets have already advised that they will be extending their opening hours, with some starting from six and others closing after midnight. Our members inform us that this year Black Friday will bring a shopping feast for consumers with the exceptional discounts available.”

This day also offers challenges particularly regarding transport. For this reason, GRTU, accompanied by representatives’ of popular retail centers, met with Transport Malta and the Police Traffic Division specifically to discuss measures to ease traffic flow during Black Friday.

GRTU positively notes that both Transport Malta and the Police will be deploying all possible resources to identified problem areas and bottlenecks. GRTU has also communicated and appealed with local councils to limit inconveniences on the day to only that which is urgent.

Towards this aim:

1. Road Traffic Police and Transport Malta official will be located at different bottlenecks.

2. GRTU wrote to all local councils to refuse and permits not considered as urgent and that could cause inconvenience in the roads.

3. Private carparks will be taking measures to increase efficiency.

4. The private sector is being encouraged to limit deliveries during this day.

5. The general public is being encouraged to make use of alternative transport, including public transport and ferry service available to the Valletta, Sliema and Cottonera areas.

6. In Valletta, apart from MCP car park there will also be a large allocated parking at the Water Front, from where the public can use the lift that takes them up to the Barrakka.

‘This Friday GRTU will be closely monitoring the going of sales during the day and will be sending live updates from centers, retails shops and outlets. Members of the media interested to receive these updates are required to send an email to [email protected] listing their contact details including name, phone and contact number.’

Subsequently, GRTU will be publishing results of its usual study of how business has fared during Black Friday.

Mamo concluded that “We believe that GRTU is an instrument that will help the continued improvement of the consumer-business relations. This year Maltese consumers have offers they cannot miss and these will be available across sectors and all over Malta. We expect many more businesses participating and offers that are greater than ever.”