SA: Christmas sales up in SA but not in all areas

AAP General News (Australia)
12-24-1998
SA: Christmas sales up in SA but not in all areas

ADELAIDE, Dec 24 AAP - Christmas shopping was up overall in South Australia but not in all
areas and age groups, the Retail Traders Association said today.

Executive director Stirling Griff said major city retailers had increased sales by an
estimated 10 to 20 per cent on last year's pre-Christmas period and large regional centres had
experienced similar surges.

But Mr Griff said smaller shopping precincts had recorded only patchy sales during the same
period.

And he said a recent study showed younger people were spending freely but middle-aged
consumers lacked confidence in their financial security and were being more conservative with
their shopping.

"We did a fairly major survey. It showed there was quite a variation of confidence. It
varied a lot by areas and a lot by age groups," Mr Griff said.

"The most confident and positive people were the under 35s, the people that were 41 to 50
years old were feeling vulnerable. They indicated they would use a lot of credit cards and not
spend as much."

Mr Griff said major department stores in cities around Australia were experiencing a big
sales boom with December sales up an estimated 90 per cent from other months of the year.

He said Adelaide shopping centres were also recording increased sales this year because of
the closure of the John Martin's department store in March.

"The city has benefited from the loss of John Martin's. Some retailers have recorded
increases they attributed to the closure but if John Martin's was there they still would be
claiming an increase," Mr Griff said.

He said the state's shoppers had spent $750 million for the year before today and that
figure was expected to top the $1 billion mark by the end of 1998.

An estimated $25 million would be spent in the state today just on food for Christmas
celebrations, he said.

AAP scl/sn/jnb

KEYWORD: XMAS RETAIL SA

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