'Pandemonium' in New Zealand's malls ahead of Christmas
With just five days to go until Christmas, it is no surprise New Zealand's malls are flooded with people, with this week tipped to be the busiest of the year. Scentre Group, which operates St Lukes, Albany, Newmarket, Riccarton and Manukau Westfield shopping malls, says record numbers of shoppers have been through its centres this week, with foot traffic set to exceed forecasts. Westfield says "multiple tens of thousands" of people have already been through each of its centres, with the weekend expected to bring in further "record numbers". Paul Gardner, regional manager for Scentre Group, has visited each of the ASX-listed mall operator's New Zealand centres this week. He says all have been in similar states of crazy. "It certainly feels busier than ever," Gardner told. As Gardner puts it, there's only one place busier than Westfield Newmarket in Auckland right now, and in the month of December, and that's Auckland Airport. Carparks are scarce and the loading docks at Westfield Newmarket are humming, while supermarkets continue to restock their shelves. Westfield malls had been bustling with shoppers ever since Black Friday. In previous years there would often be a week of respite between the typically busy Black Friday week and the seven to 10 days before Christmas, but this was not the case this year, Gardner said. "We had a record Black Friday and it didn't stop in the week after, with Cyber Monday onwards. In previous years it went into a bit of a lull for a week or so, but that hasn't happened." Paymark figures show transactions in the month of December are up about 50 per cent, Gardner said that was inline with what the mall operator had experienced this month. "It feels busier in proportion with the number of transactions." Gardner expects Saturday to be the busiest trading day of year for Westfield, while Kiwi Property, which operates New Zealand's largest mall, Sylvia Park, expects Sunday at noon to be its busiest, based on shopper activity last year. Talking about Christmas shopping trends at Westfield St. Lukes. Westfield centres throughout the country have extended their hours or trade until 10pm this week and will be open until midnight on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, as has Auckland-based Sylvia Park. Gardner said the extended trading hours had been in response to activity in the centres in the lead up to Christmas last year. "Three consecutive midnights is the heaviest we've been." Retailers and malls have an extra day of Christmas trade this year, with Monday being the day before Christmas Eve and Christmas falling mid-week. "It is perfectly set up this year - this is probably the best possible scenario because it means you get the whole weekend [of trade] and the Monday and Tuesday as well. I think it will line up for a bumper year, partly because of Christmas landing in the middle of the week." With Black Friday proven to have been a record and foot traffic being un-relentless, the indicators implied the Christmas trading period would be a record, Gardner said.
He said shoppers seemed to be positive and happy, which often translated into more spending, he said.
Paymark figures show spending in the last seven days before Christmas rises to be 50 per cent more than the average week spread across the year. Spending at department stores, recreational goods and liquor stores and clothing outlets doubles in the lead-up to Christmas. Shoppers spent $6.4 billion in the first seven days of December, according to figures from Paymark, which processes 75 per cent of the country's electronic transactions. Jacquie Johnson, centre manager of Westfield St Lukes, told NZ Focus Live that gift cards seemed to be a popular choice for shoppers this Christmas. Johnson said it was "pandemonium" at St Lukes - just how the mall liked it at this time of the year. Drones had proven popular gifts this Christmas among parents, along with phones and electronics for teenagers. Skateboards and unicorns had proven popular gifts among children this year, as were books and Harry Potter-related merchandise, she said.
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Poll: Should drivers retake the theory test every 10 years?
Drivers get where they need to go, but sometimes it seems that we are all abiding by different road rules (for example, the varying ways drivers indicate around a roundabout).
Do you think drivers should be required to take a quick driving theory test every 10 years?
Vote in the poll and share any road rules that you've seen bent! 😱
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49.5% Yes
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48.6% No
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1.9% Other - I'll share below
Here's Thursday's thinker!
I am lighter than air, but a hundred people cannot lift me. What am I?
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Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.
Why make picking up reserved library books harder? What do you think? Challenge: Write the last stanza for the first poem attached below.
Once books are reserved in Auckland Libraries books, when they are available no longer go alphabetically by customer but instead go into a Holds pickup shelf number based presumably somehow on when each book needs to be picked up by.
I had two books reserved that arrived on two different days in the Blockhouse Bay Library and hence each book has a different shelf number. Hard to find unless you knew the shelf number in the notification email. Even if you knew the shelf number I found myself three books by the same author on the two shelf numbers.
More recently yesterday a book I reserved was on a different shelf number than was specified in my notification email (see image below).
Sadly it is clear from library staff that a numerical system for reserves is here to stay.
I suggest that so that all books for each person has the same shelf number, the shelf number becomes the last digit of a person's library card (0-9).
Within each shelf number a book is found under the day the reserve arrives in the library (01 to 31, hopefully the same date the email is sent).
Since a customer appears to have 10 days to pick up a book, ten days of the month would appear to be required at any time (for each digit 0-9).
Once there are 10 days used the next day's reserves could go back at the beginning of the shelf number after any remaining books not collected (hopefully none) are removed (along with the old day number and the new day number (01 to 31) inserted) after the last day available and future days' books remaining moved forward to make room.
Each day number (01-31) would appear once for each shelf number (0-9) before the first book on that day- perhaps cover an old withdrawn book with paper with each day number on the spine?
When a reserved book arrives in the library the last digit of the library card could be placed on a piece of paper in the book to be removed when it is put on the shelf, to be recycled the next day.
What do you think?
See the image below and page 3 below for a letter appearing in the Western Leader on 9 September:
www.neighbourly.co.nz...
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