BRIGHTER SHOPS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19820, 23 December 1938, Page 7

BRIGHTER SHOPS

LAST TWO DAYS’ SALES

CHRISTMAS RUSH SETS IN

HECTIC TIME FOR STAFFS

A feature of the preparations for the Christmas shopping season this year has been the use by shopmen in all lines of trade of means to brighten up the appearance of their show-windows and their sales counters.

Never before have the. shops o! Gisborne presented so gay an appearance as during this week. The least enterprising retailers have been infected with the prevalent keenness to put the public in a buying mood.

How much influence upon the public is exercised by these touches of brightness it is difficult to say, but the fact remains that in every shop in town to-day the staffs were working at full capacity, and putting through a substantial volume of business.

When a pressman made a tour of some of Gisborne’s leading retail establishments to-day, he gained the impression that the wave must be almost at its peak to-day. The pioprictor of one store, however, expressed the opinion that things will be much busier to-morrow. Comparison With Last Christmas ‘Tt is impossible to say now just how the season compares with last Christmas. I believe that if comparisons were made, day by day, over a period of a month before Christmas, it would turn out that we had done more trade this year than last, in seasonal goods,” he said, in reply to an inquiry. “Some retailers are inclined to think the recent import restrictions are affecting the trade, that people are disturbed and restrained; but so far 1 have not noticed any signs of it. “If to-morrow docs not find every shop in town crowded out throughout the day and evening, I will be sadly amiss 'in my estimation of the position. The public spending power is still remarkable, and to-morrow wc will be endeavouring to satisfy the requirements of a host of wage-earn-ers who have just been paid, many having in hand the wages for the balance of the month.” Government servants and constructional workers, he said, had been paid to-day, and in nearly every case had substantial funds in hand. In the case of the construction • workers, from the railway and road camps, the men had received three weeks’ wages in one pay, with the addition of holiday allowances for the year; in the case of public servants in departmental offices, the pay-date lor the second half of December had been anticipated, as is always done in order to meet the wishes of the wagegetters and spenders. These two divisions of pay would run into many thousands of pounds, and at least a large proportion would be spent in Gisbojne to-morrow and on Saturday. To-morrow is also the regular payday for business, retail, and industrial wage-earners, and a further substantial sum will thus be released Shopkeepers who do not cater for the public in a big way to-morrow are likely to have regrets, this businessman commented.

Simplified Gift-Choosing There is plenty of scope for the buyers of Christmas presents in Gisborne, many of the shops rivalling, in the range of their stocks and the skill with which they are displayed the best shops in the main centres. It is noticeable that the package tendency, which has developed in recent years, has been carried much further this year. Buyers are offered groups of articles in one package, such as the shaving requirements of a man, or the needlework outfit of a child, the whole being attractively prepared, with tasteful colours incorporated in the packaging. The prices of the combination parcels are calculated to add to their attractiveness, and the problems of gift-choosing are much simplified for the average donor of small Christmas presents.