Shoppers take to streets in £100m spree
NORTHERN Ireland shoppers are gearing up for a £100m six-day festive spending spree ahead of draconian new lockdown restrictions that take effect on Boxing Day.
A week of chaos is expected on the high street during a pre-lockdown stampede before Christmas, with retailers expected to offer huge discounts from Monday — in effect bringing forward the now-cancelled December 26 and New Year sales.
Economist John Simpson has predicted that consumer spend will hit £100m by December 24.
“Northern Ireland households will spend about £20m a day in this last rush before Christmas, particularly with the effect of the lockdown, so that spending of £100m in the next week would be well within their capacity even though many of them have got greatly reduced incomes,” Mr Simpson said.
But the president of Belfast’s Chamber of Commerce has warned the public not to fall into the perfect storm of attempting to do their Christmas and January sales shopping in one fell swoop.
Michael Stewart, a renowned publican, said he wanted people to come and spend their money — but he urged everyone to do it safely.
“This is the third lockdown — it’s obviously tough trading times and it has been since the first lockdown in March,” said Mr Stewart.
“People have become weary of it but they shouldn’t and they absolutely can’t drop their guard.
“But my message is: We are Belfast, we are open and we are safe. We are ready to welcome people right up to Christmas Eve.
“Shops, bars and restaurants have adapted to the new way of working — sanitisers, social distancing, wearing masks — and the majority of customers are compliant.”
His cautionary call comes as retailers are expected to begin heavily discounting their remaining stock ahead of a six-week stoppage following a disastrous year.
Last weekend there was a run on Primark at the Abbey Centre in Newtownabbey, despite the store staying open overnight.
The new restrictions will begin on December 26 with non-essential shops closing after Christmas Eve in a bid to stop the spread of Covid-19.
Even tighter restrictions will then be in force for a week from Boxing Day onwards, as shops must close and no gatherings are permitted between 8pm and 6am.
Close-contact services, such as hair salons, will have to shut while pubs, cafes and restaurants will be restricted to takeaway services.
And although many retailers are banking on brisk trade this weekend, Belfast businessman and tailor Chris Suitor said he feared that “the bubble may already have burst”.
“The peak of the spending may have passed,” said Mr Suitor.
“People have got the message about staying away so trade will be steady if anything because a lot of retailers are going to start their sales on Monday.
“My main concern with this lockdown, more than any of its predecessors, is that it may be the one to push shoppers online for good.
“And I believe online retailers will benefit from the strict new restrictions to the detriment of the independent retailers.”
He added: “Bigger independents will probably feel the impact of this lockdown more than us. We’re a small fire so we only need a small amount of coal to keep going compared to bigger traders who need a lot more coal. We’ll get through the next six weeks but there will be a lot of businesses that don’t.”
Kathleen Mcgovern, owner of Abacus Beads, an arts and craft shop at Castle Street in Belfast city centre, said dealing with the fallout of the Primark fire has given her the mental fortitude to deal with disruption brought about by Covid-19.
“Thing haven’t been great since the first lockdown in March,” said Kathleen, whose business was forced to close in the aftermath of the 2018 inferno at Bank Buildings.
“I set up an online shop in November and that has helped me survive during the pandemic.
“My overheads are lower than
other bigger small businesses so the grant support has helped as has the furlough for both my staff.”
Kathleen said she was “worried about the future of retail generally” after a “desperate year” on the high street.
She added: “I wonder if people will ever feel safe and comfortable in the city centre again? Customers of mine have told me they won’t set foot in Belfast until this is all over.”
The businesswoman, with almost 30 years’ experience under her belt, also said she was anticipating a “rush on retailers before Christmas” in Belfast city centre.
“Sales are starting earlier but even if it is busy with shoppers spending
money, it’s never going to make up for what retailers have lost through having to shut for weeks on end,” she said.
“When the Primark fire happened it nearly destroyed me — especially from a mental health perspective — but that is what has equipped me for dealing with this year.
“Everything will be okay. We’re tougher than we think.”
Meanwhile, as close contact services have been told they will also have to shut, hairdresser Andrew Mulvenna said the cost of shuttering up his salon has been huge.
“Closing down from October probably has cost the business over £80,000,” he told the BBC.
“And because we work with appointments, we have to cancel 400 appointments a week and whenever we close down so we’re looking at now around 1,500 appointments that we have to try and move so it takes a lot of people a lot of time to try and do that as well.”
He added: “So it’s not just shutting the doors and pulling the curtains for five weeks — we have to communicate with so many people to try and make sure there’s a business to come back to.”
With tills due to be ringing heartily ahead of Christmas, Mr Simpson revealed: “There’s great expectation there’ll be another splurge in spending the day the pandemic ends.”