Sales fever hits the North-East’s stores

Dec 28 2007 by Hilary Clixby, The Journal

SHOPPERS turned out in their thousands across the region yesterday as sales fever continued unabated.

Trade showed no signs of slumping as retailers reported booming business with particularly strong sales in clothing and household goods.

Newcastle city centre was heaving with bargain hunters as the Eldon Square shopping centre opened for the first time after staying closed on Boxing Day. Among the stores reporting brisk trade was Fenwick’s department store, which opened at 8am, closing at 8pm.

“We had queues of people snaking round the building waiting to get in, both at the Northumberland Street and Eldon Square entrances,” said a store spokeswoman yesterday.

“The busiest areas are probably menswear, television and audio and handbag sales. It’s impossible to say at this stage whether the sales will be higher than last year but it has been a strong start and it all looks promising.”

Home furnishing specialists Barker and Stonehouse reported buoyant trade at its Newcastle store with up to 300 people through the doors by noon yesterday. Particular bargains included an ex-display sofa set reduced from £2,991 down to £599 and an ex-display coffee table reduced from £1,400 to £99. Both were snapped up within minutes of the store opening. “This week is one of our busiest weeks of the year,” said store manager Jill Hardcastle. “Literally hundreds of people have been through the door and we are doing really well.”

MetroCentre general manager Barry Turnbull reported trade at the centre – Europe’s biggest shopping complex – was significantly higher yesterday than at the same time last year.

He said: “There was a noticeable increase in footfall on Christmas Eve as customers made last minute gift purchases and exploited some of the price reductions which had taken place pre-Christmas.

“These price reductions were excellent signposting for what was to come as stores had some excellent bargains on offer on Boxing Day. Over 260 stores traded with significantly increased footfall on last year and that pattern continued into today where sales started with Next opening at 5am followed by Marks and Spencer at 6am, with both experiencing very brisk activity.”

Ramsay Floyd, general manager of the House of Fraser at the MetroCentre, said sales figures were “well up” on the previous year with the strong Boxing Day trade figures continuing yesterday with prices slashed by up to 70%.

Meanwhile in Sunderland, The Bridges saw 71,000 visitors on Boxing Day – 10,000 higher than the previous year – with the trend continuing yesterday.

At Dalton Park in Murton, County Durham, centre manager Jerry Hatch said footfall was on par with last year’s figures with around 10,000 people expected to have visited the complex yesterday.