Some retailers at Goldfields Shopping Centre have seen record increases in trade in what they say has been the “best” Christmas period.
Manager John Freer told The Profile the mall community expected something special would happen for the December 2022 shopping period, and that business owners were “very happy” after a merry trade.
“Coming out of Covid, the general indications were that people were going to come and travel and have an enjoyable Christmas, and I think that’s reflected in terms of the trading that we’ve experienced,” he said.
“McDonald’s are telling me their trading has exceeded previous Decembers and also, we’ve had the likes of The Warehouse which has also reported really sound trading figures.”
Mr Freer said more than 1.2 million people visited the mall throughout the year, exceeding that of the previous two years.
“So it’s not just about people spending more money, it’s about the fact that we’ve had more people coming into the shopping centre.”
Mr Freer also congratulated the mall’s tenants on their successful trade following what has been a “challenging year” due to staffing and supply chain issues.
“People have stepped up and it’s been quite impressive to see what has happened with the likes of the Warehouse who rely on a big staff. With McDonald’s, there’s a lot of people that have gone the extra mile to make sure the appropriate service is available.”
Boots ‘N’ All owner James O’Grady said the business he’s owned for 35 years was “booming” at Christmas, with a record $7500 made in one day.
“We sold out of a lot of stuff… business has been booming and at Christmas time our record was $6140 but it is now $7500 which is basically a whole week’s taking in one day,” he said.
“We get a lot of Aucklanders that come down and we get a lot of tourists who come to my shop every year from Australia, UK, America, and we target them as well; we buy extra stuff in for them as well so we’re a bit of a destination shop.
“We’re looking forward to another prosperous year again,” he said. “We’ve gone into very good watches and we’re selling a lot of jewellery and we’ll keep trying new products and being good to our customers.”
