Boxing Day sales surpass hopes

Retailers and customers alike were pleasantly surprised as Boxing Day sales in Dunedin surpassed their respective expectations.

The streets were packed on Saturday as hundreds of people flocked to Dunedin shops to snag a bargain, meaning a bumper day for shop owners despite a lack of custom from cruise ships and an uncertain year.

Retail figures from Paymark show Christmas Eve shopping broke records, transactions peaking at 204 per second at lunchtime, topping the previous record of 188 transactions per second.

Figures on Boxing Day spending are expected to be released today.

Otago Sports Depot owner Brent Davies said Boxing Day was more successful than expected.

"We’ve certainly bounced back better than we thought this year. Following Covid, we weren’t sure how people were going to spend.

"It’s not quite as good as last year, but it still feels busy."

Mr Davies estimated the shop had about double the number of sales it would get normally, but a lack of cruise ship passengers was felt.

"You do notice the difference without them and particularly in January, when a lot of locals go away, I think we’ll see it even more."

Getting stock had proved difficult this year, he said.

Maher manager Poppy Murray said the shoe shop was doing a bumper trade this year.

"People maybe do have a bit more to spend on these sales because they’re not travelling.

"We’re really pleased with how it’s going ... A lot of people are out and about."

The shop had more than doubled normal sales, she said.

In Wanaka, shoppers took the chance to spend at Mitre 10 Mega, which opened at Three Parks on November 21.

Shop owner Martin Dippie said the cafe playground and garden centre were busy and people bought camping and outdoor equipment and barbecues.

In Queenstown, it was the busiest day of the year at Mountain Warehouse in Beach St.

Assistant manager Anna Ide said things had been slow prior to Christmas before a pick-up.

"Boxing Day was pretty awesome — really busy with lots of families wandering around."

Further down Beach St, Hallensteins enjoyed a bumper day, manager Michael Rankine said.

He said trade had picked up noticeably in the past week.

Clothing store Lululemon had a particularly busy morning.

Not only retailers were left pleasantly surprised on Boxing Day.

Mosgiel resident John McCormick drove to Dunedin with his children, Lily and Jakob, to pick up a script at the Dunedin Bayview Pharmacy inside The Warehouse, and the family came away with more than they bargained for.

"We weren’t planning on spending anything but we thought we’d pop in [to The Warehouse] as we had our Christmas money on us."

The family ended up spending about $600 on a 55-inch television, two large Nerf guns, Play-Doh, gaming headphones and microphone, TV cables and a Minecraft night light.

Mr McCormick said it was his first time shopping on Boxing Day, and the sales were too good to pass up.

"It was my birthday just before Christmas, so I had a bit of money from then."

Loyalty Forde, of Dunedin, spent her birthday and Christmas cash on a $150 LOL Surprise OMG Remix Plane toy.

She had been wanting the toy since the start of the year and was very excited about getting home and setting it up.

— Additional reporting by Matthew McKew and Kerrie Waterworth