Consumer mood is changing: ‘It’s really quiet in stores’ | Financial

Marieke van den Berg (l.), co-owner of a company that makes more expensive seating furniture: “The prices for our materials are rising so fast that we have had to adjust our retail prices two or three times in a year.”

Rias Immink

Amsterdam – Until now, the retail sector seemed to notice little of the sky-high inflation – again around 10 percent in May. But economic uncertainty is growing and that is not without consequences. In recent weeks, visitor numbers and sales in the home furnishings and sleeping shops, in garden centers and in kitchen stores have declined, according to a tour of De Telegraaf. “It’s really quiet at the moment. People are going to make choices.”