Mall sees foot traffic increase

Steve Ellingford, Bayfair Shopping Centre manager, said customers in the first eight days of December were up on last year. Photo / File

A week into December the Christmas rush is already starting in Tauranga with the city's largest shopping centre predicting bumper sales.

Figures released today for the first seven days of December showed a slow start with the Paymark network showing that although spending had increased by 4.9 per cent, it was well below last year's growth rate of 8.6 per cent for the same period.

Bayfair Shopping Centre manager Steve Ellingford said that was not the case at the mall and early indications were that retailers were in for a busy Christmas trading period.

"December has started well and we have seen the beginning of the build up to Christmas. For the first eight days of December foot traffic has increased by 15 per cent ahead of the same eight day period last year which is a good sign," he said.

November sales figures had not yet been finalised but he expected them to continue to increase.

"Based on the past 18 months and the continued sales growth across all categories for this period we would expect November to follow this trend," Mr Ellingford said.

"The positive sales trend over the past 18 months is a reflection of a strong local economy and the centre meeting customer needs."

Paymark figures for November showed Bay shoppers spent $287.8 million - 4.5 per cent more than in November last year. This translated to 5.97 million transactions - an increase of 6.6 per cent.

Sectors that experienced slow growth during November included department stores (up 1.2 per cent), recreational goods (up 0.7 per cent) and pharmacies (up 0.1 per cent).

House of Travel Tauranga and Mount Maunganui owner operator Shane Kennedy said November sales had been good.

"Definitely we've trended well up in November this year compared to November last year. It's not a high season for us but it's definitely been busier."

The Paymark figures showed people had more money to spend but did not always reflect how well retailers were doing, he said.

"If retailers are having to discount 5 per cent more than usual, no one's making any more money."

Broncos Outdoors owner Glenn Tuck said business was ticking along but the weather had put a damper on the sale of camping and fishing gear.

"Fishing's down big time. The sole reason for that is that the weather's not allowed guys to go out and lose stuff or break stuff."