Christmas rush rolls on for Christchurch retailers

Press, 28 December 1978, Page 1

Christmas rush rolls on for Christchurch retailers

Christchurch retailers had little respite from the Christmas rush yesterday as crowds flocked into town to browse among leftover Christmas merchandise.

Supermarkets also reported brisk trading as people replenished cupboards after the long Christmas week-end.

The Barrington Park Mall supermarket had a “reasonably steady” flow of customers, said the act-* ing manager (Mr E. H. Smith) as did the Bishopdale Super Value supermarket. Customers did not appear to be buying much meat, suggesting that their cold Christmas turkey and ham were sufficient. The acting area manager for Haywrights in Christchurch (Mr A. Powell) said that a few people were coming in to exchange Christmas presents — mainly clothing that was the wrong size.

Business yesterday appeared better for the day after Boxing Day than last year, and it was expected to continue until the New Year, Mr Powell said. People queued outside DIC-Beaths yesterday morning for a postChristmas shoe sale. The assistant manager (Mr W. J. Brereton) said that the sale was held on that day each year. There had been a lot of people in the shop all day, a few returning faulty toys and exchanging clothes, mainly menswear, he said.

Chemists’ shops were crowded with holidaymakers stocking up on suntan oil. insect repellents, and basic first-aid requirements as well as films.

Hanafins Chemists. Ltd, in High Street was kept very busy all day. Mr D. Preston, the manager of Camera House in Worcester Street, said that his staff had been “run off

their feet” coping with people coming in to buy batteries for flash-guns, films and bringing in their films for processing.

He said that many people brought their cameras out only once a year to take family photographs on Christmas Day. Other camera shops were not so busy, but expected a big upsurge after the New Year holidays.

A spokesman for Pan Pacific Cameras said customers appeared to be more cautious this year when buying their films. Instead of buying several rolls of film at a time they were buying them singly. He said that the free-film offer, where a person who delivers a film for processing receives a new film in exchange had some bearing on that. Jumbo Prints is preparing for an onslaught of films for processing. The peak would be about mid-

January, said a spokesman. Some Christchurch record shops reported a very busy day, people rushing in to buy films and cashing in their Christmas record vouchers. The Record Factory in Colombo Street had exchanged more than 300 vouchers for records by mid-afternoon and was also kept busy with returns of faulty records. The manager of the shop (Mr R. Middlemiss) said that this year had been exceptionally bad for record manufacturers turning out faulty products. “A lot of people came in complaining that their records, given to them for Christmas, had chips or buckles, and labels missing,” he said.

The E.M.I. Record Centre also reported brisk trading. About half of its sales yesterday was cashing record vouchers.