High hopes for Wairarapa Xmas sales

Spending in Wairarapa in the first week of December was the seventh highest out of the seventeen regions in the country.

Wairarapa retailers are anticipating buoyant Christmas sales, despite national spending data showing the season is off to a slow start.

Paymark, which monitors purchases through its Eftpos terminals, said although the country's spending increased by 4.9 per cent in the first week of December, it was well below the 8.6 per cent growth experienced during the same period last year.

Spending in Wairarapa was the seventh highest out of the seventeen regions in the country, increasing by 4 per cent to a current value of $41 million for 2014, compared to $39.4 million last year. Annual growth rates for November were highest in Nelson with an 8 per cent increase and lowest in the West Coast, which fell by 2.8 per cent. Palmerston North and Wellington increased by only 0.5 and 0.7 per cent respectively.

Owner of Hedleys Booksellers David Hedley said November sales were "extremely good" with a 25 per cent increase in sales. It was the highest one-off monthly growth he had seen in 40 years, Mr Hedley said. "There was definitely a big lift in November, which was really pleasing."

He attributed the increase to a number of factors including early Christmas shopping, people returning to printed books over e-books and general consumer confidence. "Partly it's broad-based confidence ... you do sense throughout the community that it's slightly more buoyant."

The owner of Black Sheep Jewellery Lynn Simpson said the shop was busier than expected for this time of the year. She had increased staff hours at the beginning of December, rather than two weeks before Christmas, as was usual, she said. "We've had a fantastic response and it seems people are supporting local stores. We are definitely ahead of the game this year."

However, shoppers were often more cautious, sometimes visiting the store several times before purchasing or choosing lower-end items, Mrs Simpson said.

Manager of 100% Newbolds Masterton Mark Heginbotham said spending was steady and a recent one-day sale had been the "biggest day" for the store in several years. He expected sales to increase towards the end of the month and peak on Boxing Day, he said. "It's always the last week - people like to leave it to the last minute."

Seasonally-adjusted data released by Statistics New Zealand showed the value of core retail sales on electronic cards, which strips out spending on fuel and vehicle-related items, rose 0.3 per cent in November. New Zealanders spent $6.4 billion using electronic cards.