Yes - expect your purse/wallet to become full of small slips of paper if you intend to do any shopping on the Island. Well, I suppose it is small price to pay for now having such a large variety of products available to the Maltese consumer (although I wonder if the environmentalists have anything to add about all this extra waste paper being generated...).
Several major British and Italian retailers such as M&S, BHS, Coin and Standa, have their own franchise shops in Malta. McDonalds and Burger King are set to conquer the local fast food market, to the detriment of the more traditional 'pastizzeria' and 'cafes'. There is also an enormous range of imported products ranging from bathroom suites to antique furniture, computers, stationary products, clothes.............
What is shopping in Malta like? When I was much younger, the key expression was Tha morru il-Belt ghax ahna bzonn nixtruU. Valletta is definitely still a hub of activity thoroughout the shopping hours, but numerous shops and commercial outlets have now mushroomed all over the island. Sliema has become the in place if you can afford the upper range bracket of products especially for clothes.
Hamrun is another busy shopping suburb and the daily outdoor markets 'monti' in B'Kara, Birgu, M'Xlokk and Mosta have become the mecca for those seeking the ultimate bargain. The trend in recent years, especially for groceries and household items, has been towards the numerous discount stores all over the island (although it is questionable as to whether the savings made do make up for the extra petrol used getting to them).
For the visitors - look for traditional Maltese products such as silver filigree, Maltese glass and Malta lace (beware of imitations - make sure the lace you buy is handmade - I have seen several shops in St Julians, Sliema, open air markets and even the airport which only have the machine made lace available!).
Yet, there is a downside to this - I find that the prices in Malta are almost double what I would usually pay for the same or similar product in the UK, and our average salaries are lower than in the UK or mainland Europe. The majority of shops in Malta are small independent retailers, generally family owned, with limited resources, and many have already expressed their concern as to how Malta's entry into EU will affect these commercial activities in the future. My advise to them is to keep in mind that 'Internet' shopping now beckons..........
E-mail to Janet Mifsud de Gray, Ph.D.