Christmas hits profits but footfall up!
Now that the Christmas period has settled and everyone is back to work, the most important period for retailers can be viewed outside of the frenzy that surrounds the average Christmas. Bangor and Holywood can now complete their sums and come to terms with just how good or bad it was. The general conclusion appears to be that it wasn’t as bad as many had anticipated. Financial data provider, Experian commented that visits to UK High Streets in the last week of December were up 12.8% compared with 2007.
The key shopping centres in North Down, Bloomfield and Bangor town centre both recorded higher than average footfall and record use of car parking space. At peak times both locations had a build up of traffic that had the potential to cause frustration but not quite bad enough to spark road rage. No incidents where reported.
Town Centre Manager Stephen Dunlop also commented:
“There was a very definite last minute rush to the shops with many customers waiting to secure the last minute deals. Footfall was definitely up although it was being driven by early sales with heavy discounting. This means the profit margins will have been diminished. People where definitely out looking but only buying when they knew it was value for money. A lot of people seemed to finish work early as the boost seemed to come on the 22nd.
It has been interesting to read the articles about the big multiples especially Marks and Spencer. They appeared to have over estimated Christmas demand and over stocked. This appears to have prompted their two day 20% sales prior to Christmas and now they’re issuing a profits warning. Clearly a poor judgement call on their part. Debenhams on the other hand are relieved that sales in the last 12 weeks only fell by 3.3%. As they carrying nearly £1bn of debt such performance should also relieve their shareholders. Despite sales in clothing increasing by a quarter at John Lewis, fashion retailer Next dropped 7% in the 6 months to Christmas Eve. What’s been good for one hasn’t worked for others.”
Locally, the Christmas period seems to have held its ground with many business owners expressing positive views on trade both now and in the coming year. President of the Bangor Chamber of Commerce, Evan Ward made the observations:
“North Down has a very healthy percentage of high income households and a significant proportion working within the public sector. Very few jobs are being lost and the cost of living has gone down. I do feel for the pensioners who do seem to have been squeezed but for the majority of residents their position hasn’t changed. Considerable insecurity has been driven by constant TV coverage. Whilst the property market has been hit nationally, there are signs that things aren’t that bad for North Down. Sainsburys have now lodged their planning application for Balloo and will be looking for new staff to occupy it. Clearly there is some good news and faith that North Down is still a good location for business.”
There can be little doubt that many will be relieved that 2008 is over, the question remains what lies in store for 2009?
