According to vice president of the Athens Traders Association and member of the board of the Professional Chamber of Athens, Nikos Kogioumtsis, Athens’s most commercial street, Ermou Street, has been heavily hit by the Greek financial crisis. Two out of the street’s ten ground floor stores are currently vacant. “The country’s busiest street, Ermou Street, used to be to fifth most commercial street in the world, but now it has started to fade, after the Greek financial crisis,” said Kogioumtsis. He also noted that while 20 percent of ground floor shops are vacant, when factoring in the shops that are located on higher floors or galleries, the percentage climbs to 50 percent. “If we don’t factor in the surrounding areas then it is estimated that 40-50 percent of stores are vacant, while calculations show that the percentage of vacant stores in higher floors reaches 80-90 percent,” he added.