CHRISTMAS SHOPPING

Matamata Record, Volume XVII, Issue 1589, 24 December 1934, Page 4

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING

MATAMATA BUSINESS L Steadjr Increase Reported All doubts regarding the extent of Christmas shopping were banished last weak. Almost without exception retailers reported an increase in volume of trade with the best day —Christmas Eve—still to come. Wednesday and Friday were very good days, many Matamata shop- t 'keepers saying these days were almost as good as ah ordinary Christmas Eve. . Practical Gifts It would seem that although smaller-priced toys are selling as usual, the purchases being made are generally of a more nature. This tendency is .probably! due to the purchasers wishing the recipients to have presents which would be valued and useful. A more pleasing feature than in past years in the opinion of shopkeepers is that although the volume of business has been greater it has been steady. Renewed Confidence With butterfat payments generally lower than for the corresponding period of last year, on the faqe of things it Seems remarkable that purchases in country towns have been greater. This undoubtedly points to a greater degree of confidence, while ah additional factor is the growth of the pig-fattening industry. The recent announcement regarding the bacon quota has allayed fears respecting this season’"at least, and farmers have a fair degree of certainty regarding their returns from pigs. The pig industry has grown tremendously of late, so that farmers in Waikato and Thames Valley do not now seem to be dependent entirely upon the monthly buttezfallt cheque. With the latter alone, at this season of the year) farmers would not have ' been able to spend as I’freely 1 ’freely as they are doing. ~ ; V contributing cause to the brightening of business is . undoubtedly the absorbance of many formerly unemployed men and boys into positions at least permanent for the supimer. It is. common throughout Thames Valley that farm labour is at a premium and. has been so for a couple of months. Each person employed becomes a purchaser, and the more regular the employment the more regular and greater his or her purchases. The many causes—small as they may seem individually—collectively point to a distinct brightening of conditions not only for Christmas, but for 1935. Surely it .is not imagination that the people show a more cheerful spirit than jm) December 1933! Js-j

Providing to-day keeps fine it is confidently expected that the business of the Christmas season of 1934 will be better in proportion to costs and receipts than in any year since 1922.