busy days

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23227, 22 December 1938, Page 10

busy days

THE CHRISTMAS EUSH CROWDS IN THE SHOPS EXCELLENT BUSINESS DONE CLIMAX STILL TO FOLLOW Thousands of people, both residents and visitors, did their Christmas shopping yesterday, and from almost as soon as the stores opened until tho doors were closed at 5.30 o'clock last evening, Queen Street," Symonds Street, Karangaliapo Road and Newmarket were thronged with people. There is every prospect that the revenue this week will eclipse that realised in recent

years. Tho number of motor-cars in the city was remarkable, and the capacity of parking areas was tested to the limit. The major shopping streets were flanked with almost unending lines or vehicles from 10 o'clock in tho morning, and by lunch time they wero so closely packed that pedestrians had to walk warily when attempting to cross from one side to tho other. Working at High Pressure Everywhere one went, in stores, on the streets, in lifts, people of all ages carried parcels or wero buying the pleasant trifles and substantial, useful things one gives at this time of the year, when no one seems exempt from giving. Shop assistants and the despatch departments of the big city stores worked at top pressure throughout the day. So persistent was tho public demand at counters that at times it seemed as though staffs would be overwhelmed. All Shops Benefit Packers in despatch departments were surrounded with piles of merchandise of every description—clockwork motor-boats, delicate china, parcels of clothing, numberless pairs of shoes, bottles of scent, boxes of stockings—and with labels, pots of paste, balls of string and rolls of paper to reduce them all into neat packages ready for delivery. All types of shops reported excellent trade for the first three days of this week, with the anticipation that business to-day and to-morrow would be even better.