News Beat
Shops continue post-Christmas sales in York city centre
The huge crowds of years gone by are absent in this year’s festival bargain hunting season and though some car parks were busy, others had plenty of spaces.
And some shoppers were still Christmas present shopping for relatives or friends they have yet to see this holiday season rather than looking for something for themselves.
Instead of opening the shop to long queues of shoppers, staff in some stores arrived to computers with long lists of online orders to be filled.
In the Cat Gallery on Petergate, Nicole Lambert said: “It’s changed, the way people are shopping. They are doing a lot more online.”
She said there were lots of family groups out strolling through the city centre, popping into shops if they spotted something they saw something they liked, rather than dedicated bargain hunters, going from shop to shop.
Her shop which is known for its handmade Lucky Cats range, has launched its annual sale of Feral Cats – Lucky Cats with minor flaws that cannot be sold at full price.
Online orders flooded in while the shop was closed for Christmas.
Laura Stirk of Wild and Westbrooke on Stonegate which specialises in country lifestyle clothing, like many shops, was also dealing with a long list of online orders. Her shop wasn’t open on Boxing Day and reported a slow start when it did open. But by midday it was busy with shoppers.
In Fabrication on Stonegate, which sells work by a large range of artists working in a variety of media, staff said their first sale of the day was a holly wreath, a Christmas purchase for a shopper yet to finish their Christmas celebrations.
They reported steady business with many customers looking for the perfect gift to give before New Year.
Discounts offered by major stores varied from 30 per cent to 70 per cent and though some shoppers went home with arms full of purchases, most leaving the city centre had one or no shopping bag.
