Retailers bewail 'worst' Christmas season in years

Retailers across Nelson Mandela Bay have experienced the “worst” Christmas shopping season in many years, with some recording sales far below their targets.

As a result, some of them have excess stock, which they will be marking down and extending discounts to try and lure customers.

Retail managers laid the blame at the door of “a down economy, high food prices, global financial crisis, the National Credit Act and a generally negative business mood”.

The floor manager at Ackermans in the central business district, Shirley Newfeldt, said neither of the chain‘s two Govan Mbeki Avenue outlets met sales targets.

“It‘s far worse than last year. People are struggling and they don‘t have money. The economy is down, and people would rather spend their money on food than clothes.”

The worst in years

A sales manager at Ellerines Furnishers, also in the CBD, said: “We achieved about 75% of what we were targeting. It is definitely the worst Christmas shopping season in many years. Can you imagine losing about 25% of your customers, sales and profits?”

He said the few months leading to December had already indicated it was not going to be a bumper festive season. The NCA and the global financial crisis, he said, had created a concoction of trouble for the furniture industry.

Bradlows, a furniture shop affiliated to the JD Group, did not do well either. A manager, who did not want to be named, said: “Business is still there, but we are struggling. One of my sales people tells me customers were admonished on radio not to spend too much.”

She said the shop, like many others, was running clearance sales to lure customers back.

Figures not what ‘were expected'

“I am told that during the first few days of 2008 the shop was very busy, but today it‘s quiet. We hope business will pick up,” she said.

The JD Group owns a number of brands, including Incredible Connection, Hi-Fi Corporation, Joshua Doore, Morkels, Russells, Price ‘n Pride and Electric Express.

Equally unhappy was Karen Luduuick, manager at Sportsmans Warehouse. She said the 2007 festive season would probably go down as the best year for a significant number of retailers. Not so for 2008.

“We are happy with the figures, but they are not what we had expected.”

As a result the retailer now has a “big” sale.

“We had bought enormous stock thinking we would sell well, but our expectations were not met. The sale is partly to clear the floor for new and exciting stuff,” Luduuick said.

The retailer is extending discounts up to 50% mostly on apparel and other equipment.

A well-known jewellery shop in the CBD is also offering discounts up to 70% on selected goods in order to clear excess stock.

Not even the better shopping environment provided by the revamped Govan Mbeki Avenue and other parts of the CBD could convince customers to spend on luxury goods, she said.

Equally, aggressive marketing on TV failed to guarantee Clicks the desired sales. Clicks CBD manager James Stewart said while the outlet did not do too badly, it failed to achieve its target set by head office.

He said, “Especially during the first week of December, it was very quiet.”

Source: The Herald

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