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Christmas comes at last as sales spark £100m spree
Aline Nassif22 Dec 2008
Shops in the West End enjoyed one of their best weekends of the year as consumers, lured by unprecedented pre-Christmas discounts, spent more than £100million in just two days.
Up to 140,000 shoppers packed out Oxford Street, Regent Street and Bond Street - a rise of almost 20 per cent compared to the same weekend last year.
Department store Selfridges said it was "one of the busiest weekends of the year", while John Lewis reported its London stores sold seven per cent more than this time last year.
The rise in the number of West End shoppers comes after miserable November and early December sales figures prompted many shops to slash prices.
Jace Tyrrell, of the New West End Company, said: "It's been an exceptional weekend, but there's been a lot of anxiety in recent weeks.
"Europeans have been buying lots, but we were worried about the domestic London market who were taking forever to start spending. Christmas has come late but it has come at last." Retail experts said shoppers had "held their nerve" waiting for shops to drop prices - with discounts of up to 70 per cent at Benetton, 60 per cent at Liberty and 50 per cent at Gap, H&M and dozens more.
Stephen Robertson, director general of the British Retail Consortium, said: "Some retailers will now dare to breathe a sigh of relief that customers are simply delaying their Christmas spending rather than cancelling it."
But many experts warned shops were making a risky compromise amid news that up to 10 chains are threatened with going bust next month.
Nick Hood, a partner at business recovery company Begbies Traynor, said: "Not a lot of them are profitable because of the discounting at a time when they would normally generate all their profits for the year."
He added that, while retailers at the high and low ends of the market are attracting a lot of custom, the middle-of-the range shops have been stung.
"People are either looking for bargains, or they have the money to pay for luxury items. Middle-class families are being a lot more cautious," he said.
Reader views (6)
1 good weekend does not make up for a bad year.. and bad next 2 years,,,
These comapnies are doomed, doomed because they all highly leveraged in one way or another.
- Paul, Manchester, 23/12/2008 01:43
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Come on - do you really expect us to believe that?! Nice try! I happened to be in Selfridges today (no, not shopping), and along all of Oxford St, numbers were down on last year. Funnier still, I found it highly amusing watching people spend money they don't have. They'll never learn! 
- Ms, London, 22/12/2008 23:58
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Reports from John Lewis & M&S suggest spend is down signficantly. Oxford Street was not busy today! Despite efforts from New West End to talk up the numbers there does not seem to have been much of a last minute rush
- Jock, London, 22/12/2008 17:53
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spend in haste, repent at leisure....how much of the stuff people waste their money on at xmas do they actually NEED???
- Pat, The Hague, Netherlands, 22/12/2008 16:03
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hey Stewart, we had Beales in Ealing but it got bought out and its now a big child labour promoting Primark Store. Sums Ealing town centre up really with all its boarded up shops, Beales was our best department store, especially at Xmas.....
- Dc, London, 22/12/2008 15:09
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I would like to add some good news.
Instead of the worst shop this Christmas what about the best store at Christmas in London, step forward Pearsons Department store in Enfield.
Not only is it a pleasure to shop in, has all the top brands fragrances etc, it is privately owned and still run by the same family for over 100 years.
It surely has the best Christmas lights in any store in the UK.
Does any one else have anything similar?
- Stewart Clark, Enfield, 22/12/2008 12:34
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