Soft toys popular but not with wrapper

Press, 26 December 1985, Page 4

Soft toys popular but not with wrapper

Wrapping up a 1.6 m tall pink panther in the middle of The Shades during peak Christmas shopping is no mean feat.

A resident wrapper, Miss Lyndelle McCabe, had to face this challenge earlier in the week, along with all the other soft toys, knickknacks, and presents large and small.

“It was absolutely chaos on Monday,” she said on Christmas Eve, surrounded by lengths of ribbon, brightly coloured boxes and Christmas stickers. Miss McCabe has worked for three weeks at the “in house” wrapping counter set up in the centre of The Shades. She said soft toys seemed to be popular, but not particularly easy to wrap.

The manager of the soft toy shop in The Shades, Mr David Britten, said sales had gone very well during the Christmas season.

“There is a big trend towards cuddly toys, and the demand is increasing all the time,” he said. In one line, 500 toys had sold in two months. Mr Britten said he had sold hundreds of the popular “Little Begger Dog” as Christmas presents. Garfield, the feline subject of a popular cartoon, was “the ultimate toy,” said the manager of the Television New Zealand Shop, Mr Jeff Maslen.

The shop, in the Triangle Centre, had been making the amount of money in a day that it would normally make in one to two months in winter, said. The shop stocked Garfield paraphernalia, including mugs, towels, cards, and soft toys.

A video entitled “100 years of Rugby in New

Zealand” had proved “exceedingly” popular also, said Mr Maslen. Other retailers in The Shades also reported brisk trade before Christmas, after a lull during the bus strike.

Two new shops, the Parfumerie and the Oroton Showcase, had been trading briskly since they opened in July and November.

The manageress of the Parfumerie, Mrs Joy LeComber, said, “Both men and women have been buying. Today it’s more men — coming in to do the lastminute shop,” she said on Christmas Eve.

Groton’s manageress, Mrs Sandra Francis, said business had justified a specialist shop of its type in Christchurch. Mrs Francis said men and women of all ages had been buying. Italian leather handbags, Groton mesh, and fashion jewellery had been especially popular. Boots the Chemist, in the Canterbury Centre, specialises in fragrance, and had had a steady stream of people since November rather than a final rush, said its manager, Mrs Sharon Gable.

“Most people seemed to have spread their money out better this year,” she said.

Fashion shops reported a normally busy Christmas time, although some were affected by the recent wet weather.

However, Top Shop, in the Cashfield shopping arcade, reported “fantastic” sales. This was surprising considering the economic downturn and the bus strike, said the store manager, Mrs Maureen Fisher. “A lot of people came in

looking to buy clothes for other people, but gave in to the temptation and ended up keeping the present for themselves,” she said.

People had been buying shorts, swimwear, shirts, and sunfrocks for holiday wear and menswear sales had increased also, with many men buying jeans and dress pants for themselves. Mrs Fisher agreed that the wet weather had slowed sales but business had generally been exceptional. The Face Place beauty salon said business had picked up during the last week.

Elegant Nails on the mezzanine floor of The Shades had every manicure desk occupied and its waiting area full.

Hair salons generally reported brisk business, like Blades, where hair was being frantically swept off the floor.

The manager of Bruno Barberellis in High Street, Mr John Lewis, said business during the week before Christmas had been “fantastic. We haven’t really had enough staff to cope with the demand,” he said.

Popular hairstyles had been short, wispy, textured bobs. For longer hair the trend was towards pinning hair up with longer wisps about the face, or soft body waves. Coloured highlights were popular also, especially red and gold.

Nicholson Brown in the Canterbury Centre had been “very busy,” said the company’s managing director, Mr Grant Nicholson.

“Lots of people left it to the last minute to make an

appointment, which meant it was hard to fit them in, but we managed,” he said. Men were wearing their

hair longer at the back and shorter at the sides at the moment, said Mr Nicholson.

Whitcoulls Cashel Street manager, Mr lan Whitta, 1 reported a reasonably buoy-' ant Christmas. “It was up to expectations, although the bus strike affected sales earlier on,” he said. A new book by James Michener had been especially popular, he said. The manageress of The Shades, Miss Wendy Gapes, said, the precinct had been extremely busy during Christmas week, with most shops recording normal Christmas sales.

“It’s been wall to wall people this week,” she said. “It started slowly but condensed in the last few days.”

Stock had run low in some shops but not enough to have affected trade seriously. >.

The Triangle Centre’s manager, Mr Ross Ritchie, said sales were generally up on last year, with trade increasing early last week. Home-appliance shops had been particularly popular since import duty came off many goods last week.

Big department stores such as Ballantyne’s and D.LC. reported a normal Christmas trade, with sales up in certain lines, but not noticeably more than last year.

The general manager of D.LC. said stock had lasted well. The bus strike had had no great effect.