By SIMON HENDERY
Here's a fact that will ring painfully true as you clear away that huge pile of shredded wrapping paper from under the Christmas tree this morning.
Kiwis love to shop - something you won't need to be reminded of if you're also contemplating the large dent you've put in your credit card this month.
We do more and more shopping each year.
Our total retail spending (including vehicle sales and servicing) was up 6.4 per cent for the year to October.
Every 12 months more than $40 billion is now passed over the counter.
And the annual growth in retail sales, although partly primed by rising fuel prices and flow-on cost increases this year, shows no sign of abating.
The Retail Merchants Association is predicting that 2001 will be another prosperous year for its member storekeepers.
But the association warns that rifts are widening as the large urban chains reap the rewards at the expense of small provincial stores that struggle to match them on price.
Niche marketing and a commitment to superb customer servicing are the answer for the smaller players, the association says.
Going into the new year, indications are that shoppers will need little encouragement to spend a bit more in 2001.
Two consumer confidence surveys last week showed that householder sentiment has turned around sharply over the past three months.
While most of us were downcast about the economic outlook in September, those optimistic about the 12 months ahead now outnumber the pessimists.
The dollar has rallied, fuel prices have fallen, interest rates have held - all reasons to smile and reach for your wallet.
Now, if only someone could work out how to sell stuff over the internet.
Maybe retailing is always going to be largely an in-person activity. After all, there's nothing quite like rubbing shoulders, literally, with your fellow bargain-getter down at the local Warehouse, is there?
Speaking of the big red retailing juggernaut, it deserves full marks for trying to turn green.
The company has an ambitious "zero waste to landfills" policy and says it is well ahead of its target of achieving this goal at all stores by 2020.
Eight branches have made the grade so far, and no longer have waste skips out the back.
The retailers' association has also established a group to examine environmental issues confronting the sector.
<i>Between the lines</i>: Billions of reasons to smile
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