Enzo, André and Tomás were among the group of around 60 students from the 2nd year of the Marketing course, who, last week, left the classroom at the Escola Superior de Tecnologia e Gestão, to meet the traders of city, learn about its problems and, based on real cases, propose plans to relaunch your business.
“What impact do large commercial areas have on your activity?” The question, posed by the students, quickly assessed several difficulties experienced by small traditional businesses. At Cestaria Fonseca, on Rua Direita, Ana Magalhães has no doubts about the effect that LeiriaShopping has on this and other small businesses in the historic area. “This Christmas, while we were busy, people were queuing up to get into the shopping center,” she recalled.
“Being here is not viable” and there are some left out of “nonsense”, he considered. Because there is a lack of housing, the buildings that have been rehabilitated in the historic center do not have commercial spaces and people stop stopping by to buy in the stores that are remaining, the employee points out.
Asked about the possibility of drawing up a marketing plan for the store, Ana Magalhães anticipates difficulties. Some events have been carried out, but they either overlap in dates or do not fit the characteristics of small businesses.
Filomena Carvalho, professor, is certain that “the university can take to the streets and promote an ever greater relationship between university students and the economic fabric. At the same time, initiatives like these boost the center.”
“This is the first time we have done something like this. The idea is to carry out a survey of these situations, and then analyze them in class and respond to traders”.
Tags: Jornal Leiria Marketing students streets promote trade
