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WORLD> Europe
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Some find opportunity in Spain's crisis
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-10 14:01 Unlike in Britain, where betting shops have tended to be associated with older men, Victoria shops have targeted women and men in their 20s and 30s in groups.
The venues have bars serving beer, wine and tapas and colourful stools and sofas where customers can watch screens showing sports like football, horse racing and basketball. "Spain is a very sociable country and people are accustomed to finishing work and going to the bar with friends for a beer," said Estalella. "Even in a crisis, people go to the bar and there they find our (betting) range." Crisis Start-ups The Victoria shops are not the only start-ups. Last month, Dutch telecoms operator Royal KPN launched its cheap German mobile brand Blau, even as rivals such as Vodafone and France Telecom had said the slowdown in Spain was hurting their global performance. In particular, Blau offers cheap calls to Latin American countries. KPN hopes the timing is right to convince cash-strapped immigrants and Spaniards to switch operators to cut their mobile bills. In an age where mobile phones are increasingly perceived more as a necessity than a luxury, a budget mobile service could prove popular among Spain's growth market of the moment -- the unemployed. "We are arriving at the right moment with a product to save (money)," Blau's marketing manager in Spain, Miguel Angel Suarez, said at the Spanish launch of the brand, which started in Germany three years ago. "The (economic) crisis creates opportunities." |
