YORK’S retailers are today opening their doors to one of the busiest days of the year as the city’s Boxing Day sales get under way.

City-centre streets and retail parks will be awash with shoppers hoping to bag a post-Christmas bargain, with some stores having opened as early as 6am.

After enjoying strong trading figures in the run-up to Christmas, retailers are hopeful the traditional Boxing Day sales would see a repeat of the spending flurry witnessed when the UK’s high street adopted Black Friday sales in November.

Nicholas Brown, managing director of Browns department store, which has a shop in Davygate, said: “The marvellous media coverage around Black Friday sales re-energised the consumer back to the high street.

“We have been wondering when the online bubble will burst, and it’s well on its way.

“It was a fantastic start to the lead-up to Christmas, and we have really seen shoppers return to the high street. York seems to have done remarkably well in the city centre.

“Now we just need a cold snap of weather to help sell the winter stock in the sales.

“I think the city’s high street will continue to do well all the way through until January 5.”

York Press:

York Retail Forum chairman Frank Wood, who also owns Braithwaite Jewellers in Goodramgate, added: “I’ve not had much feedback from members simply because it is their busiest time so they have not had chance to reflect and report back.

“We had a strong run-up to Christmas though and hopefully that will continue into the Boxing Day and New Year sales.”

Outside the city centre, York’s new £90 million Vangarde Shopping Centre has been enjoying its first Christmas.

This morning, Next was opening its doors at 6am, followed by Marks & Spencer, which was due to open at 9am.

 

York Press: Inside the new John Lewis store at York

John Lewis will reopen tomorrow. Reflecting on the store’s first Christmas, Gary Rowntree, store manager, said: “Christmas trade really kicked off from Black Friday with record takings and a surge in trade of electrical goods and technology, with TVs and iPads the must-have items.”

He said decorations, food and drink, and beauty products had also sold well, and said their “click and collect” service had also been popular.

He said: “Our focus is now starting to move to clearance which starts at 8am on Saturday.

“I anticipate the day being as busy as Black Friday, as the first day of our winter clearance is traditionally one of the busiest days of the year in John Lewis.”

As well as city-centre stores and Vangarde, Monks Cross Shopping centre is open today from 9am to 5pm, while McArthurGlen Designer Outlet is open from 9am to 7pm.