Newmarket retail boss Mark Knoff-Thomas on record Christmas spend-up

Shoppers have been out in force on the last full weekend before Christmas. Photo / Alex Burton

As tens of thousands of shoppers descended on Newmarket on the last full weekend of Christmas shopping, the local retail boss was cock-a-hoop.

“This is the Christmas Auckland retailers deserve,” said Newmarket Business Association boss Mark Knoff-Thomas.

He knew the tills were ringing from the “horrific traffic” in all directions as record numbers of 55,000 to 60,000 shoppers made their way to the Westfield Mall, laneways and boutique stores dotted throughout the shopping and entertainment precinct.

It was the same around the city as Westfield and other retailers offered extended trading hours to open earlier and close later to give shoppers more time to venture out.

“As we approach Christmas, we’ve seen an increase in the volume of customers heading to Westfield centres across New Zealand to put the finishing touches on their Christmas celebrations,” said a Westfield spokesman.

Despite warnings of tough economic times in 2023, Knoff-Thomas said that for now, shoppers are enjoying the first recent Christmas without Covid restrictions. Four of the last six weekends were record-breakers for Newmarket.

“Black Friday was just shy of $5 million in sales for the day and we expect to carry on that trajectory and look to budget $85m to $95m for the month of December,” he said.

Retailers right across the spectrum are reporting strong sales with lifestyle apparel, homeware, department stores selling strongly and small giftware stores spiking at this time of the year.

“Hospitality has also rebounded strongly.”

Asked how retailers are feeling a week out from the Christmas celebrations, Knoff-Thomas said they are too busy and haven’t got time to be chuffed.

Meanwhile, Paymark is today due to release figures on Eftpos usage and spending for Christmas over the weekend.