May, the first month after lockdown, was an excellent month for those stores in shopping centers and malls that reopened in Israel after the coronavirus pandemic lockdown was relaxed. Overall sales rose 21% in May 2020 compared with May 2019, according to data from RIS - Retail Information Systems, which took figures from 2,850 stores around the country.
However, the figures do not reflect the full picture because many retail chains such as Castro, Hamashbir Lezarchan, Renuar and others declined to open at the beginning of May because they were still in talks with the government about compensation for sales losses during the crisis.
