CHRISTMAS IN THE SHOPS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7583, 23 December 1902, Page 3

CHRISTMAS IN THE SHOPS.

. ..• ■ — *- FROM THE TRADESMAN'S POINT OF x VIEW. So far as can be gathered from a tour of the business places of the city to-day, there, is little in the air to remind one of the' close proximity of the Christmas festival. The 'unkind Weather has evidently kept indoors many fathers and mothers and cousins and aunts -who had doubtless planned to make* the day preeeVfing "Christmas Eve their " market " day, and l the " boxes " that might 'have been purchased to-day aire doomed to lie upon their shelves until the morrow. A leading grocer, speaking of Christ-^ mas business, remarked this afternoon that there seemed to be a, tendency among the people to leave their Christmas shopping later and later every year,, with the result that the throng on Christmas Eve becomes too large to be attended to, and the tradesman probably loses not a little turnover, that a little earlier shopping would have fnadthis. This, of course, applies only to the "fancy goods" department. The thrifty housewife <buys )her raisins and currants and her lemon-peel in good time, and buys it in large quantities. The consensus of opinion among the leading grocers of the town is ail in favour of the statement made by one of 'them, that the gene--1 ral Christmas business has been as good this year as in previous years. The demand for Christmas presents is felt, perhaps, more in the jewellers' and hardware shops than anywhere else, and' these report good business. ■ The principal jewellers Qiavs had a. busy time during the past few days, and their customers have been of the buying sort. In their lighter stocks the hardware merchants have been selling as fast as they could go, and the demand still continues, Famcy goods, wherever they are to be found, among the big drapers' firms or in their own particular dens, arc-eagerly sought after. The experience of' the booksellers . all goes to prove that' most persistent theory that the day of the Christmaa card! is past. Its place is 'being taken iby books and booklets of views and by those handy editions of greatauthors which fashion has recently given suoh a vogue. The booksellers find plenty of seekers after knowledge, and their business during the past week has been veTy satisfactory. On the whole, the Christmas trade this year is about up to the average, and despite the recent rises in the prices of the necessaries of life, 'people of all classes seem to have money to spend and to be willing to spend it. V