GOOD CHRISTMAS TRADE

Southland Times, Issue 24004, 20 December 1939, Page 6

GOOD CHRISTMAS TRADE

SHOPPERS BUSY IN CITY STEADY BUYING FOLLOWS SHOW WEEK If the good weather which has been experienced in all parts of Southland continues during the next three days and the shopping business maintains its level of the last few days an excellent Christmas for Invercargill shopkeepers may be expected. City stores have been very busy for seven or eight days and already this week the Christmas rush can be said to have begun. Although there seems to have been little restriction in spending power, the luxury buying apparent in the last two or three years has been more or less absent this season. People are said to be giving more serious consideration to the selection of their Christmas gifts and generally not such expensive lines are being bought. Tradesmen interviewed yesterday were quite sanguine about the outcome of the Christmas of 1939. Most of them had been too busy during the last few days to make an accurate comparison of the volume of business with other years, but generally the answer was that the results were much better than were expected. In • some cases they exceeded those of other years. Whether the next few days would set a new standard in Christmas sales was problematical, but judged on the early business it could be taken for granted that the season would be a good one. STEADY SALES Coming on top of a Royal Show week the steady sales in fancy goods and jewellery shops were a welcome surprise to the shopkeepers who had benefited. Show week was an exceptionally good one for all classes of trade and, being so close to Christmas, it provided a convenient opportunity for many of the hundreds of country visitors to make their Christmas purchases. Naturally the volume of business was greater than that of the show week of 1938; this year the Royal Show was a threeday fixture compared with two days for the Southland summer show last year. Nevertheless, almost all shopkeepers were satisfied with their show week business. As usual, novelty and utility gifts are attracting most buyers. The stock lines of handkerchiefs, ties, stationery, toilet products, gloves and hosiery are in just as big demand today as ever, however. Few, if any, lines eagerly sought at Christmas time have been removed from retailers’ shelves by the import restrictions, and shopkeepers are 'finding no difficulty in meeting almost all demands. Invercargill streets certainly do not give the impression that business has been affected in any way by .the war situation. The briskness may be of a temporary nature only, but it is welcome. There is an air of gaiety in the main shopping area; that and bright window displays add to the festivity of the season.