IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS
H UNDREDS of people were seen queuing outside shops before they even opened in the Welsh capital yesterday, on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
With two weeks until Christmas, shoppers across Wales were expected to boost footfall in city centres this weekend.
Cardiff’s Pandora jewellery store in the city’s St David’s shopping centre was especially busy, with a queue of “hundreds” lined up outside its doors for more than an hour and a half before the store had even opened.
Shoppers reported a huge number of people waiting outside before 8am, even though it was not due to open until 9.30am.
Nick Walters, deputy manager of the shop, said: “It’s just the Christmas hype.
“We recently had Black Friday so are used to having shoppers queuing up outside the store before we open.
“It’s quite normal for there to be hundreds there to be waiting over 40 minutes before we open.
“Christmas is well under way and we’ve got a very busy day ahead. We get around 30 extra staff in on Christmas weekends to deal with the extra demand.”
Speaking yesterday, Steven Madeley, general manager for St David’s Cardiff, said: “There has been a real buzz in the centre today as tens of thousands of Christmas shoppers visited St David’s.
“There is a strong demand for jewellery, cosmetics and toys, with queues forming outside the Pandora store ahead of its doors opening this morning.
“St David’s has placed Cardiff on the map as one of the top three shopping cities in the UK, and is the destination of choice for shoppers throughout Wales and beyond, rivalling the likes of Birmingham and Manchester for its quality and scale of retail offering.
“Shoppers are not just picking up gifts for family and friends; we are also welcoming hundreds of generous donations to our Toy Appeal that is benefiting children’s charities across South Wales.
“We expect the centre to remain incredibly busy throughout December.”
Kevin Critchley, manager of the Eagles Meadow Shopping Centre in Wrexham, also spoke about a busy Saturday.
He said: “It’s very busy here and that follows the trend we’ve seen in recent weeks and indeed all year.
“We’ve been running at about 7% up on last year’s shopper numbers throughout 2016 but over the past few weeks that has surged and we’ve seen our year-on-year figures up by as much as 17%.
“That means we’re on course to break through the three and a half million mark this year.
“There are lots of good offers on at the stores this Christmas but there just seem to be more shoppers around as well.”
Yesterday also marked what was labelled Send-Back Saturday, as around £1bn-worth of purchases bought over the past few weeks were expected to be returned.
It followed an eye-watering spending spree of £3.3bn over the Black Friday weekend, and meant the beginning of one of the busiest periods for home shopping returns, as customers attempt to get back the money spent over the last two weeks to fund their Christmas spree.
Send-Back Saturday was coined by the Post Office, which says 40% of Brits now buy more than they used to, and for two thirds, the rise of online shopping has affected their spending habits.