By Kymberly Martin
As shoppers head into stores.
Early signs are that Christmas trading will be bigger than ever this year with a lift in foot traffic already at the Harvey Norman Superstore in Aspley, Brisbane.
AV and Home Appliances franchisee, Nick Hartwig told AR said expectations are that Christmas business will be strong. “Normally customers start coming in later but there has been an early start this year with foot traffic picking up in November.” Hartwig said all departments are going well and business is steady. “Online is ticking along nicely. It certainly is not going backwards.”
He said the Christmas trading period will be supported by broadsheet advertising as well as significant support from radio and television campaigns.
The store will open with extended trading hours in the week before Christmas but there will be no late-night trading until midnight on the one occasion when the shopping centre stores will open.
“Because we are a standalone store almost all our customers start drifting out by 9pm so we won’t be following the big shopping centres with midnight trading. Some of the centres have up to 300 retailers so late-night shopping is a better option for them.” Hartwig said regional stores have their own take on trading hours as these can differ widely depending on the area.
On Thursday, the National Retail Association (NRA) will welcome retail shop doors being open for the first time at 7am on south-east Queensland’s first day of extended trading hours. This follows a unanimous decision from the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission in October to allow retailers to open from 7am to 9pm, Monday to Friday