Tills ring merrily
Shoppers in Nelson pushed $5 million through the tills on Friday and today they were back for Boxing Day sales. The latest figures from eftpos provider Paymark show shoppers in Nelson spent $5 million on Friday, December 23, an 8.7 per cent, or $400,000 increase on the same shopping Friday last year, which was Christmas Eve. Nationally it was a $6.3m increase to just over $230m. This year, Christmas Eve coincided with Saturday’s Nelson Market and it was the market’s busiest day of the year, market founder and owner/operator Nita Knight said. The sun shone on shoppers on Saturday as they navigated the market stalls, happily spending their Christmas dollars on food and gifts. “It’s phenomenal. It’s packed and there’s a really good atmosphere and happy people,” she said. Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and boysenberries sold out rapidly. Spring Grove berry growers Karen and James Smith had huge queues and sold out of strawberries and raspberries by 9.30am. “I had to sell literally out of the back of the truck – it was crazy. Last time we did Christmas Eve it was the same,” said Mrs Smith. The amount of rain that had fallen in the Nelson region had made it a tough season for berry growers so far, she said. “There’s not many this year. We lost a lot because of the rain and we’re still getting new strawberries coming on that are rain damaged.”
Patricia Edwards, of handmade boutique clothing stall Touche, counted herself lucky to get a space at the market as she was not a regular during the winter. She said she was “exhausted and starving” by 10am, as she had been rushed off her feet. “I have done far better than I would have thought,” she said.
The market will run as usual on New Year’s Eve and a special market will run from 8am till 1pm the following day.- © Fairfax NZ News
