In the last 8 years (*) we have lost nearly 158.000 businesses active between craft shops and small neighborhood stores (**). Of these, over 145.000 operated in crafts and little more than 12.000 in the small business. The CIA estimates that as a result of these closures they lost less than just 400.000 employees.
"The crisis, the drop in consumption, taxes, bureaucracy, lack of credit and the surge in the cost of rents - reports the coordinator of the CGIA Studies Office Paolo Zabeo - are the main causes that have forced many small entrepreneurs to permanently lower the gate of his shop. If, moreover, we take into account that in the last 15 years the commercial policies of large-scale distribution have become more and more targeted and aggressive, for many artisans and small shopkeepers there has been no way out. The only solution was to finally throw in the towel ".
The fall, unfortunately, has continued in the last months of 12: Between June this year and the same month as 2016, the number of companies active in crafts and retail sales fell by 25.604 units (-1,2 per cent) (See Tab.1).
In the last 8 years, the total stock of the companies active in the handicrafts has steadily dropped from 1.463.318 to 1.322.640, while retail trade has decreased to a lesser extent. If in the 2009 were 805.147, in June this year they were at 793.102.
The handicrafts that have suffered from the 2009's most important contractions were those of road haulers (-30 per cent), carpenters (-27,7 per cent), construction (-27,6 per cent) and furniture manufacturers (-23,8 per cent ). In contrast, the number of hairdressers and beauticians (+ 2,4 per cent), food merchants (+ 2,8 per cent), taxi drivers (+ 6,6 per cent), ice cream parlors / take away (+ 16,6 per one hundred), designers (+ 44,8 per cent), and repairers / maintainers / machine installers (+ 58 per cent).
"Beyond the need to revive growth and consequently also employment - explains Renato Mason, Secretary of the CGIA - it is necessary to recover the cultural devaluation that has undergone the work of craftsmen over the past few decades. Although it must be emphasized that through the school reforms that took place in recent years, the new Consolidated Act on the apprenticeship of the 2011 and the innovations introduced by the Jobs act, important steps have been taken towards the right direction, but all this is not was still sufficient to reverse the trend ".
So, for the revival of handicrafts, once a real flower of the Made in Italy headgear, it will not be enough to leave the current economic crisis, but it will also take a cultural effort, leading to a radical Reconsideration of the social value of craftsmanship that will undergo epochal changes with the advent of the digital revolution. A perspective absolutely to be pursued, because it could open up many new opportunities for work to thousands and thousands of young people.
Returning to the data, the South was the geographical division most affected by the closure of craft activities. Also since June of the 2009 the same month this year, the decrease was 12,4 per cent: Sardinia (-17,1 per cent), Abruzzo (-14,5 per cent), Sicily (-13,5 per cent), Molise (-13,2 per cent) and Basilicata (-13,1 per cent) were the regions that suffered the strongest contraction. In absolute terms, however, is Lombardy (-18.652) the territory that has recorded the highest number of closures. Following are Emilia Romagna (-16.466), Piedmont (-15.333) and Veneto (-14.883). Even in the last year, the number of companies active in the country affected the 20 regions of Italy.
One of the main causes that forced the closing of these 158.000 craft businesses and small businesses was due to the decline in household consumption. These businesses work almost exclusively for the domestic market, and although in the last 3 years the consumption has risen again, the benefits of this growth have affected almost exclusively the large organized distribution. From 2006 to 2016, for example, the value of small retail retail sales (service craft and small neighborhood stores) fell by 13,1 per cent; In large distribution, however, it has risen by the 6,2 per cent. This trend continued in the early 6 months of this year: while in supermarkets, discounts, in department stores, sales increased by 1,3 per cent, while in small shops the decline was by 0,6 per cent.
=======================
(*) June 2017 on June 2009;
(**) Small businesses, also known as retailers, were accounted for net of the residual share of craftsmen (registered in the craft sector in the retail trade segment and hence already included in the statistics of craft businesses) .