Facing the future in the 21st century : an anthropological study of shop traders in Valletta : challenges and opportunities

Abstract

This dissertation looks at retail traders in Valletta, Malta, mainly those in the third or fourth generation of inherited family businesses. Some businesses will continue into another generation, more will exit the field. But all face challenges in an adverse trading environment. Reasons cited range from: the decline, perceived or actual, of Valletta as a retail centre in the face of competition from other centres in Malta and online sales, combined with the pedestrianisation of much of Valletta and parking restrictions; a growth in the variety of consumer commodities available in an increasingly global market place; a reduction in the appreciation of quality products by an increasingly demanding, bargain-hunting clientele; the effects of the recession following the 2008 financial crisis. This is not an analysis of success over failure but of diverging roads, and the local and global factors bearing on those businesses which are likely to survive over those which will probably roll down the shutters for good.