Bendigo retailers are preparing for another busy period during the Christmas build-up and have warned shoppers to get all presents ticked off their lists before it’s too late.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Fashion retailer Fiona Rooke, owner of Robe Bendigo said so far this Christmas season it has been busy and that there’s an emphasis on shopping local.
“The people that have been shopping from November onward are pretty organised so they are happy to walk around and source the product locally, they have got the time,” she said.
“The crunch will come closer to Christmas where there’s still that window to get products delivered if they’re shopping online, so the pressure will really be on local retailers to be able to meet the expectations of our customers both product wise and service wise.”
Local retailer Noel Sens, owner of Sens Jewellers said that it could be even busier in central Bendigo and the area would “flourish” if shoppers had access to more free parking.
However, in comparison to the same time in 2016, it’s “busier than last year, for sure”.
“We’ve been really busy actually, we do have a sale on, it’s probably not a really good economic climate in Bendigo at the moment, I don’t think, but we’ve been going very well so we’re very happy,” he said.
Mr Sens predicts that it will only get busier as the countdown to Christmas Day continues.
Retailer Kane Barri, owner of The Meadow said that depending on which day Christmas is calendared makes a difference to shopping trends and that the rush is coming later every year.
“People think, ‘well I still have the Saturday and Sunday before Christmas’ so they can push it back.”
Read more: Your pictures of Elf on the Shelf 2017
“If it’s on a Wednesday, they [shoppers] might finish on the Tuesday, so they’ve got to do it on their lunch break,” he said.
Local Bendigo shopper Rikky Blake started all of his Christmas shopping in early November to avoid the inevitable last minute retail rush.
“Bendigo can get very busy during this time of the year and you can find much better choices online,” he said.
Ms Rooke has advice for people who are yet to start shopping and how to approach the Christmas build-up.
“If you do leave it too late, you don’t enjoy it, but it’s a nice opportunity to embrace gift giving and think about the person you are shopping for and giving something that’s perfect.”