The idnes.cz server reports that 1,082 stores in villages of 400 and fewer residents closed during 2017. That was twice the number that went out of business in 2016, according to the Union of Trade and Tourism (SOCR). It claims that the hardest hit were shops of 50 sqm and less, as 759 of them closed last year. “Most of them are unprofitable and are not effective for entrepreneurs. Residents typically work and shop in the larger towns,” said the president of SOCR Marta Nováková. The Ministry of Trade and Industry is considering measures to help businesses in the country’s smallest municipalities. These include opening the way for shops in the smallest villages to receive subsidies aimed at small and mid-sized companies. “We want systemic, multi-departmental solutions,” said Novaková. They should be aimed at mayors who should create conditions in their villages that would allow the shops to survive.”
