Jumbo, which also sells homeware and operates 52 stores in Greece and 28 in Romania, Bulgaria and Cyprus, said sales fell 18% in 2020 in what it has previously called a "lost year", as lockdowns during the crucial Easter and Christmas periods hit the sector.
In its trading update, Jumbo made a plea to the government to announce "a coherent, joint plan for the equal reopening of all retailers."
Retailers account for about 11% of Greece's economic output and employ one in five workers.
Greece, in a partial lockdown since November, extended some COVID-19 lockdown curbs last week until Jan. 18, including the temporary closure of non-essential shops and the so-called "Click Away" shopping, where buyers place their orders online or by phone and then book a date to go and collect them.
In the run-up to Christmas, authorities allowed "Click Away" to help retailers recoup part of their lost sales but banned it last week after infections in the country receded only slowly.
Echoing Jumbo's worries, the Hellenic Confederation of Commerce and Entrepreneurship, which represents about 283 retail associations, has warned that keeping retail stores shut for too long risks "a pandemic" of closures this year to the benefit of multinational and big domestic groups.
(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Susan Fenton)
