Despite concerns that the rise of online shopping is taking its toll on retailers, the Boxing Day sales at Meadowhall shopping centre on the outskirts of Sheffield seemed as busy as ever. Shoppers arrived at 6am to find there were already long queues for the bigger stores and by 10am cafes were packed with exhausted-looking families slumped over cups of coffee, surrounded by bags.
“Walking along some of the aisles is like walking up a river,” said Melvin Johnson, 71, a retired tunneller, who was sitting on a bench watching people bustle past. He comes to Meadowhall every Boxing Day with his granddaughter and sits patiently outside stores as she goes in search of bargains. “At my age I can only stand so much walking about,” he said.
Johnson has no interest in online shopping. “I can barely use this,” he said, holding up an old Nokia phone. “I only turned it on today so I could phone my granddaughter to tell her I was on the tram. I wouldn’t know how to do online shopping.”
Nazneen Mahmood and her husband, Zahir, have come to the Next sale at Meadowhall every Boxing Day for the past five years, taking advantage of being able to leave their four-year-old son with her parents. “This technically counts as ‘couple’s time’,” said Nazneen. “That’s sad isn’t it?”
“We got here at 6.30am, but there were loads of people here before us,” said Zahir. The couple spent a full two-and-a-half hours in Next – which has a 50% off sale – and bought clothes for their son for the whole of next year.
“It’s satisfying when you get all the stuff in your bag at the end and you think, ‘You know what, I’ve probably saved £200 or £300,’” said Zahir. “But we’re not going to lie to you,” added Nazneen. “It’s not always a nice experience.”
Carol Martin has been spending Boxing Day at Meadowhall since the shopping centre first opened in 1990. She and her daughter, Melissa Hipwell, arrived at around 6.40am and started the day with a fry-up at House of Fraser.
Martin then went to Paperchase to buy discounted Christmas cards for next year, while Hipwell went on the hunt for a new coat – she found two. “I should have paid £162 for these two coats but I paid £60,” she said. “That’s a massive saving.”
Both said they liked coming to the Boxing Day sales to get that “retail therapy buzz”. “I like to get my hands on things instantly,” said Hipwell. “If you buy online you don’t get that feeling.”
The view from London
The crowds filling the pavements of Oxford Street on Boxing Day seemed more international than ever as the relatively low value of the pound tempts shoppers from around the world.
Daniela Schwamm, 48, from Austria, was shopping with her niece and daughter. They were already wearing earlier London purchases including Dr Martens boots and a Levi’s jacket. “We’ve been saving up all year,” said Schwamm. “Sometimes it’s cheaper and sometimes it’s not but we like the atmosphere here.”
Miranda Cai, 23, and Catherine Chou, 22, are Chinese students at university in Scotland. They were on their way to Selfridges. “We’re looking for clothes and make up,” said Chou. “It’s much cheaper here than in China because of the tax,” said Cai. “My friends come here to buy and takes things back to China.”
UK-based Taha Elgha and Fatiha El Mozazi said they would have spent more if the queues had not been so long. But they were not concerned about their budget or concerned about the economy. “We didn’t spend as much as there’s not enough nice stuff,” said El Mozazi.
Tenzing Pakdon, 33, agreed: “We come every year but all the good stuff has sold already. Even though it says half price it is not really cheap.”
Melinda Gooden, 39, said she headed to the sales every year particularly to look for perfume, but she was likely to spend less than usual this year. “My family doesn’t seem to need anything and who isn’t worried about the economy? The way the government and parliament is, no one is doing any big spending.”
