A campaign is committed to local commerce because it is “close, fresh, sustainable, humane”

“Close, fresh, sustainable and humane.” These are the four values ​​highlighted by a campaign with which, under the motto ‘Principles to recover the principles’, we want to value local commerce. A national initiative, promoted by the Spanish Confederation of Commerce (CEC), which is joined by Rioja and Logroño commerce, through FER Comercio, ADER and Logroño City Council.

The general secretary of FER Comercio, Adelaida Alútiz; the general secretary of the Spanish Confederation of Commerce (CEC), Julián Ruiz; the Director of Promotion of ADER Esther Villacé; and the Councilor for City Promotion, Miguel Sáinz, presented the campaign this Monday, which, with posters and a video, can be seen in the establishments themselves or on municipal totems and mupis.

At a time “of great global transformation, where the commitment to a sustainable and environmentally friendly city model is more necessary than ever”, the Spanish Confederation of Commerce (CEC), in collaboration with all its territorial organizations, has wanted to emphasize “the importance of recovering four basic principles that are the DNA of local commerce and that we seem to have forgotten: Close, Human, Fresh and Sustainable.”

This awareness campaign, promoted by local commerce at a national, regional and local level, aims to “open the eyes of citizens about how important our local products and the businesses in our towns and neighborhoods are that, fulfilling their vocation of service, are an essential factor in our society.

And, since the pandemic, “it has become clear how essential it is to have a nearby commerce at the most critical moments, to be able to guarantee the most basic needs.” The importance “of knowing that you can count on the experience and the personalized and close treatment that local commerce provides and that makes it unique and necessary.”

The bell

For the campaign, different creatives (posterage) have been designed, which will be distributed throughout La Rioja, and a central video of the campaign, praising the four main concepts of the action. Likewise, the launch of a campaign on social networks has also been planned, where posts and the video, specially created for the initiative, will be disseminated.

In this framework, Julián Ruiz has emphasized the need to support “SMEs, micro-SMEs and the self-employed, which make up the majority of the business fabric of commerce in our country, and which represent a benchmark in our environments.”

As specific data, he pointed out that, according to INE figures in 2023, there are almost 393,300 trading companies in Spain, 12.3% of the total number of companies in the country. It means that, at the national level, there are about 520,000 establishments, 13.3% of the total.

They also offer employment to 1,911,329 self-employed and employed people and generate 4.9% of the national GDP. This is the first activity in the services sector with the highest representation of self-employed workers out of total affiliations. It provides “quality employment, backbones our towns and cities and generates local wealth.”

According to Ruiz’s data, of the total establishments, “46% are sole proprietorships, that is, self-employed; which rise to 83% if we talk about two employees; and 95%, with less than 6”. Regarding these figures, he has warned that “in the last decade, one in three businesses without employees have disappeared, and one in ten with one or two employees have disappeared”, which he has translated into “close to 50,000 self-employed workers lost.” .

He has also cited data from La Rioja, where, in the words of Julián Ruiz, there are about 2,700 companies dedicated to commerce, “of which about 2,600 have less than six employees.” “If we are the majority of SMEs, micro-SMEs and the self-employed – he has claimed – the priority should be to promote policies to favor this system of micro-businesses.”

He added that “the situation in recent years has shown us that having a nearby business means having our needs covered, and that with this we contribute to the proper functioning of the economy, with nearby suppliers that promote continuity of supply, which represents an ‘win to win’ for everyone.

For this reason, he stressed that “in this campaign we focus on a business reality made up of SMEs, micro-SMEs and the self-employed, which together make up one of the great engines of our country’s economy.”

“The sector – he acknowledged – is in a difficult moment, with a clear competitive disadvantage, more active listening is necessary, because only with public-private collaboration will we be able to overcome the challenges we face.”

In this framework, the general secretary of CEC has indicated that “we therefore want with this campaign to raise awareness about what our sector means, to reach out to citizens, in collaboration with the merchant organizations attached to the CEC and the businesses that form part of it. part of them, a message of awareness.

A message, he added, “that guides them through the reflection of what it means to make purchases in the territory, compared to other commercial options, in which people feel co-responsible and an active part in the creation of wealth and in the maintenance of employment.

Special emphasis has been placed, in this way, on the importance of “generational change, which must be addressed very decisively, because many times, businesses that disappear are viable.”

He has called “to explore various lines of work: the maintenance of employment, especially if it involves commerce with an employee, making it easier for them to take charge because no one will know the business like someone who already works in it; or the promotion of self-employment, with support at all times, in training and also by the person who transfers the business.

From ADER, Esther Villacé has stressed that “the advantages of local trade are innumerable”, which is why she has stressed that, on behalf of the Regional Development Agency, “we are aware of the importance of the sector for the economy, for employment and to energize and fix population. Thus, she recalled “the determined support” of the institution, with several lines of aid for local commerce.

For his part, the Councilor for City Promotion, Miguel Sáinz, stressed that “we must all continue to join forces, with initiatives like this, to promote and strengthen our local commerce, which gives us a guarantee of quality, that “They are going to help us find what we are looking for, with individualized advice and great proximity.”

Sainz recalled that for the Logroño City Council “it is a priority to support our businesses”, whether through revitalization initiatives such as CUCO, Culture of Commerce, or with the new lines of subsidies for local businesses.