A delighted retail boss believes Inverness may have bucked the UK festive season shopping slumps reported elsewhere.

Although Boxing Day trends around the UK as a whole were reported to be somewhat gloomy – with early data suggesting footfall was down 6.3 per cent on high streets compared to 2023 and 4.2 per cent in shopping centres – Inverness may have avoided similar troubles, according to a boss at the Eastgate Shopping Centre.

Indeed, Chris Kershaw, who is the mall’s centre manager, said the site had experienced its busiest day of the entire year immediately before Christmas.

And although Boxing Day numbers were a little quieter than last year, he said the start of numerous big name retailers’ sales on December 27 looks like it may reverse that on Friday.

He believes Christmas Day falling in the middle of the week this year has affected shopping patterns in the run-up to the big day and in its immediate aftermath as well.

And he said this may have factored in to Monday, December 23 becoming the Eastgate’s busiest day of 2024.

He explained: “I think because with Christmas being in the middle of the week, we had a real spike on December 23 and 24 compared to the previous years. In fact, Monday was our busiest day of the year.

“People were leaving it late [to do their Christmas shop].”

Moving on to the post-Christmas sales, he said the early opening of some of the Eastgate’s ‘anchor’ stores following an extended two-day Christmas break, had also led to increased demand on Friday.

Next was one of the companies which decided to stay shut on Boxing Day as well as Christmas Day, but the start of its sales today (December 27) was marked by an extra early 6am opening time that Mr Kershaw said shoppers had responded to.

“Numbers were slightly down on the 26th yesterday,” he said. “But I think that was based around [the likes of] Next and Marks & Spencer not opening and Boxing Day is seen more as a family day.”

He added that there was a “spike” in shopper numbers early on Friday in response to those brands opening for the first time since Christmas Eve.

“Next was open at 6am [for its] sale and you could feel that in the car park this morning,” he said. “It’s the same kind of response [from shoppers] as before [on Boxing Day] but a day later.”

• READ MORE: PICTURES: Boxing Day sales entice bargain hunters out

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