Boxing Day bonanza for city centre
Central Christchurch retailers say the Boxing Day rush proved a ringing endorsement of the shopping precinct’s vitality.
While the malls were bursting yesterday, shoppers also descended on the CBD to hunt for bargains. Retailers across the city opened their doors early, hoping for a bonanza at the tills.
As development slowly continues more shops have sprung up in the central business district, with major brands such as H&M and favourites like Glassons opening in the last 12 months or so.
Rebecca Woodham, manager of menswear store Rodd & Gunn at The Crossing, which opened in September between Lichfield and Cashel streets, said Boxing Day had been the busiest day since it opened in October.
She said: ‘‘We’ve had so many people come in here today saying it’s really nice to shop in the central city, the vibe is really amazing.
‘‘The more stores that open up, the more people who come into town.
‘‘The potential of working in a business like this is sort of unlimited, because it’s only going to get busier. It’s really exciting.’’
Boxing Day is one of the most heavily discounted sale days of the year and consumers spend in record numbers.
Kiwi shoppers splashed out $4.35 billion in the first three weeks of December, up almost 8 per cent on the same period last year.
Electronic payments company Paymark estimated it would process $229 million yesterday, up on the $218m it handled on Boxing Day 2016.
Cashel St fashion shop Superette was enjoying its second Boxing Day since opening in November last year and, despite having no sales on, was about twice as busy as normal.
Staff member Sharna McQuoid had been worried the rainy weather might have dampened shoppers’ enthusiasm, but said it was ‘‘bustling, full of people’’.
She said: ‘‘It feels like there’s a city centre again. A lot of people who came in have been saying it’s their first time (shopping) back in town.
‘‘With everything opening around us it’s bringing people into town again’’.
Trenery, another fashion store in The Crossing, had about 1000 people through its doors on Boxing Day.
Its manager, who did not want to be named, said the number of customers was an endorsement for businesses that had returned to the CBD.
He said: ‘‘I think it’s good to be part of the rejuvenation of the central city. People are choosing not to go to the mall and shopping in town instead.’’
While hundreds of businesses and thousands of shoppers threw themselves into the sales heaven, for others it was a return to a familiar purgatory.
Drizzle falling gently around him as he rocked his young son Jethro in a pushchair, Brent Charnley was the epitome of many a long-suffering parent.
After more than five hours of running around shops and escaping the hordes at Westfield Riccarton, he sat patiently in the pattering rain outside H&M on Cashel St while his partner Jessica Marks and teenage daughter Stella waded through piles of clothes inside.
Smiling ruefully as he tucked his son in to keep him warm, he said: ‘‘This is his first Boxing Day sale, and hopefully his last.’’
The builder from Dunedin was part of the Christchurch rebuild, working on buildings in Hereford St a few years ago. After two years abroad he was impressed with the transformation.
He said: ‘‘The difference is amazing, it is so nice. Christchurch is coming on well – we have noticed a massive difference in what is happening in the city.’’
As the rain fell harder his daughter had still not emerged from H&M.
Apparently frugal, after five hours of being ‘‘sucked into the big vortex’’ she spent $30.
As his partner emerged looking weary, Charnley said: ‘‘She is obviously trying to get the best bang for her buck. We don’t even know where she is in there.’’
Tens of thousands still spent Boxing Day prowling the city’s malls for killer savings.
Scores queued up outside technology shop Noel Leeming at Westfield Riccarton before it opened at 7.30am, eager for discounts. All 45 staff were called in to help, and store manager Steve estimated up to four times as many shoppers came through the doors than on a usual day, buying everything from TVs and cell phones to computers and household goods.
By 5pm many at the mall had started to flag, grabbing a seat to rest.
Among the hordes were Simon Zhao and Ting Wu, both 25 and originally from Beijing in China.
After a couple of hours spent clothes shopping they circled the stores for a second time in a hunt for a new vacuum cleaner.
As they carried their new purchase through the throng of shoppers, Zhao said: ‘‘It feels just like home.’’
‘‘It feels like there’s a city centre again.’’ Superette staff member Sharna McQuoid