Comments on: Bleak Shopping Christmas

By: Videoconference Systems

Videoconference Systems — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 00:39:25 +0000

We've been shopping after christmas, still crowded and too hard to park. WE promise to our selves to never shop that day again.

By: Martin Neumann

Martin Neumann — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 12:21:30 +0000

As a Chaddy regular (coffee and the library … I mean Borders is my oasis while the wife and 7y.o daughter shop) my guesstimate is that it's about 30% down from the last few years. Still busy, but not like it was 2-3 years ago (aka: utter mayhem).

I'm wondering how the New Year sales will pan out – personally, I'm waiting for that time to buy a 126″ Plasma TV – the best buys are always after Xmas and the New Year.

BTW, Merry Christmas, Duncan – am I still allowed to say that? or have we finally beaten the PC tools down…

By: Unterkunft Berlin

Unterkunft Berlin — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 04:52:06 +0000

I did my Christmas shopping early to avoid holiday rush. Just like you, I also can't stand crowds. That's why I usually shop in the morning to avoid crowded malls.

By: Cheyne

Cheyne — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 04:29:23 +0000

Completely agree Duncan – I have been to most of the major shopping centers in Melbourne over the past week, and have had zero issue finding a free car space. Very unusual, and I am certain that shopping $$ will be down significantly this year.

By: Organic

Organic — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 23:19:47 +0000

I hate the crowds too so do most of my shopping online but thankfully I don't do the Christmas 'thing'.

By: Sueblimely

Sueblimely — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 20:16:57 +0000

Isn't the new light system in the Doncaster carpark fantastic! I was surprised at how many free spots there were during the day last week and assumed it was partly because of the increased number of spaces there.

Judging by the huge number of cars in the carpark at K Mart Burwood at midnight last night maybe people are looking for cheaper options this year?

By: Rechnungen

Rechnungen — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 04:49:44 +0000

We've been shopping 2 weeks before to avoid crowded mall day. We've bought all we needs in advance. Every year we're doing it to avoid crowded malls and hard parking.

By: scotty

scotty — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 22:06:30 +0000

That also depends on how many are going there for windows shopping

Dunno. I went to two Westfields over here in Sydney (Hurstville & East Gardens) on Saturday, and did not end up getting anything (but our usual weekly groceries). The crowd-ness is definitely less than last year. Maybe we got hit harder than Melbourne.

By: MattyT

MattyT — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 08:54:20 +0000

I've been shopping at Doncaster and it's been chaotic.

They've installed a car park monitoring system that allows you to see which car spaces are available (red/green LED) and they also count the total free spaces. Last week I arrived on a Sunday at about 10:30 am and the count was just toggling from zero to one. After 20 minutes of following other cars around I gave up…

So, I'm not seeing an obvious purse-tightening…yet.

By: skribe

skribe — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 08:46:41 +0000

On Friday Perth was the usual chaos during the day, but by 6pm was as quiet as a mouse.