Editorial: Malls in festive season frenzy

Christmas shopping craziness has set in.

Call me a Grinch but it is starting to feel a lot like Christmas and I don't like it.

Shopping might be my hobby all year round but not at this time of year when everyone muscles in on the act. Nor do I like going into a shop to get an everyday necessity such as a pair of shoes only to be asked if I have done my Christmas shopping.

I want to ask them back why do they give a fig?

However, I do understand that retailers are just trying to engage me in the hope of increasing pre-Christmas sales.

Far more likely than chit chat to get me spending would be practical measures to ease the annual pain of Christmas shopping, such as free parking and late-night shopping.

Last Friday I went downtown before starting work. I circled three times before finding a park. When I did eventually find one, I had to pay a few dollars in parking fees just so I could buy lunch. What should have taken 10 minutes cost me money and half an hour of wasted time.

Contrast this to Bayfair, where I've been twice in the last four days, one time last Thursday night in a mad dash after work to buy school disco dresses, then again at the weekend.

At 10am on Saturday it seemed like half the Bay was already there but parking was no problem. Kmart had the crowds sorted with plenty of staff and an organised queuing system.

We were able to visit four stores, and grab a bite to eat all relatively pain free.

In the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend Michele Hunter reported that official late night shopping will take place in most malls around town including Bayfair, Fraser Cove, Papamoa Plaza, Fashion Island and Bethlehem Town Centre.

Yet in downtown Tauranga, only Farmers is officially opening late. According to Tauranga Mainstreet co-ordinator Karena Mattson, only a couple of other retailers had indicated that they would open later.

While smaller owner-operators might find it harder to facilitate late night shopping, if they can't accommodate consumers at Christmas, when can they? With this half-hearted effort from some downtown retailers, combined with difficult and expensive parking, it is unsurprising that Christmas shopping crowds are heading to the malls.