Less than 24 hours after crowds lined Manchester's streets for the start of the sales, the city centre appeared far quieter this morning.
Huge queues formed outside Primark, Selfridges and the Arndale on Boxing Day morning as shoppers keen for bargains flocked to town.
But after a busy spell yesterday, the city centre was much calmer today (December 27).
While most stores across Manchester opened yesterday with Sunday trading hours, some waited until today to kick off their sales.
Next was one of the shops to remain closed on Boxing Day, instead kicking off its always-popular sale at 6am this morning.
Staff reported welcoming around 200 shoppers into the Arndale store after doors first opened today.
But after the initial rush, the shop was far calmer later on in the morning.
Having been almost deserted at 9am, Market Street began seeing a steady number of customers later in the morning - though it appeared more like a normal shopping day than a bank holiday after Christmas.
Other shopping streets through town - including Deansgate, King Street and New Cathedral Street - were even quieter.
Before the pandemic, city centre streets were often filled with bargain hunters in the post-Christmas sales, but last year many shoppers stayed away.
Businesses hoped for a boost this December after the roll-out of the vaccine, but with concerns over the Omicron coronavirus variant in recent weeks, many people have stayed away from the city centre.
Boris Johnson is set to meet with cabinet colleagues, plus Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance, to discuss whether any new restrictions should be introduced in England - although reports this morning suggest no announcement is expected to follow 'imminently'.
