Steady Christmas Trading Reported

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30631, 23 December 1964, Page 16

Steady Christmas Trading Reported

The heads of Christchurch’s major stores all SP terday of good, steady Christmas business, and at least two were confident of record Christmas trading. Almost without exception, they said that Christmas Eve was no longer the big sales day of the year. This, they said, was why they had campaigned for an additional late night earlier in Christmas week. They attributed the decline in Christmas Eve shopping to the boom in caravaning, boating, and camping. Most people, they said, wanted to get away early. “Christmas Eve is a thing of the past,” said (he assistant manager of T. Armstrong and Company, Ltd. (Mr C. Crawford). . . Sales this Christmas period, he said, seemed to have been spread pretty evenly rather than on any special peak days. Sales this year seemed as good as in previous years.

Demand For Credit

The manager of the D.1.C., Ltd. (Mr M. R. Robinson), said that one very strong trend this Christmas was tiie demand for credit facilities. This year, he said, the demand was 20 per cent higher than last year’s. “I don’t know whether Christchurch people have gone around to the American pattern of shopping on budget accounts, or whether they

are short of money,” said Mr Robinson.

The boom in credit facilities was so great this year he said, that two special staff had had to be engaged for the opening of credit facilities.

The general manager of Beath and Company, Ltd (Mr C. D. Ogilvie) said that Christmas sales had been better than ever before Sales were up 25 per cent on 1962 sales, and he was confident of a record Christmas. Mr Ogilvie said that to keep a buoyancy in the retail market for next year to absorb the 6 J per cent general wage order increase, as well as a new award expected next month, the substantially increased sales were necessary.

The deputy-managing director of Hay's, Ltd. (Mr H. G. Hay) said that he would be “inclined to think’’ it would be a record Christinas this year. His company had enjoyed remarkable sales of refrigerators in the recent summery weather, in spite of the competition from television, he said. Earlier Shopping

Many shoppers, he added, might have shopped earlier this year, possibly because of credit facilities and other inducements offered by the stores to encourage earlier shopping. “We are quite confident that it will be a record Christmas for us,” said Mr Hay.

The general manager of ,1. Ballantyne and Company, Ltd. (Mr R. F. Ballantyne) said that indications were that it was going to be a good Christmas. The public, he said, were seeking good, useful stuff. Because of the longer Christmas shopping week this year (four days, compared with two last year), said Mr Ballantyne, there was more room for the pressure. This gave people a really good run.

Mr Ballantyne said be thought there was as much money around this year as last year. “People this year are buying stuff they can really use. rather than stuff just to look at.”