Finding a bargain easier than finding a carpark

The most sought-after item at the Boxing Day sales in Auckland was ... a carpark.

By 9am, all 7500 carparks at the Botany Town Centre were taken. It was the same at Westfield St Lukes, the Albany Mega Centre and every other shopping mall where sale signs went up.

By contrast, the most sought-after item along Ponsonby Rd was a coffee. There, cafe and shop owners shut up shop on Christmas Eve and many will not be back for another fortnight.

Albany electrician Prem Chand spent 20 minutes yesterday driving round the Mega Centre in search of a carpark. He spent 10 minutes queuing at The Warehouse, saving about $20 on a $200 spend-up.

Sophie Cameron, 18, from Christchurch and her teenage relatives loved the cool shops and the bargains at Albany, but the parking was another issue altogether: "Too intense."

Wheelchair-bound Richard Fanselow fluked a wide carpark next to the occupied disabled carpark and found an outdoor chair for his mother at Farmers discounted from $199 to $139.

Retailers Association chief executive John Albertson said New Zealanders were getting used to the heavily-promoted Boxing Day sales - now the biggest shopping day of the year.

"There will always be those people who prefer to give a gift of a parcel wrapped under the tree but ... there are those that prefer to shop post-Christmas."