The Mall Norwich

This year, gloom and doom was forecast as footfall was down over the country. This Christmas was supposed to be one of the hardest yet for retailers. However, footfall and sales have increased overall in December from last year and, with a full weekend prior to Christmas to come, the prospects are looking good.

Footfall in the first week of December was up 13 per cent year on year. And Santa’s Grotto has experienced queues every day, with numbers well up on last year.

New retailers this year include Priceless Shoes, T-Mobile and Essence Restaurant, which have been added to the strong retail offer in the Mall. Not only is the footfall up, but the average spend has also increased, which has helped delay the usual pre-Christmas Sales.

The must-have for this Christmas is the Nintendo Wii, which has been in short supply and snapped up very quickly when stocks arrived. Other successful products include the Nintendo DS Lite and the iPod. Fashion partywear has been popular, as has books, gift ideas and gadgets of all kinds.

Schools break up on Friday and we expect a very busy last weekend.

Alan Day, general manager of The Mall Norwich

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