Bumper festive season in the malls

AFTER crunching the numbers, managers of shopping centres in Zululand are sporting big smiles as festive shoppers showed strong support during the December feastive season.

Despite the gloomy 2014 economic outlook, holidaymakers stuck to their Christmas shopping habits and kept retailers busy.

The Boardwalk Inkwazi Shopping Centre’s General Manager, Riana Mathee, confirmed the shopping centre has experienced a considerable amount of growth this December.

‘We were incredibly busy this holiday, especially between 20 and 24 December’, said Mathee.

She said the foot count for 2014 hit the 1.5 million mark, 50 000 more than in 2013.

After opening its doors in May last year, Mtuba Mall experienced its first Christmas run last month.

‘Even though we were prepared for the December rush we were surprised at how busy the mall was. We are very pleased with the turnout,’ said mall Manager Maria Rankin.

The Managing Director of Meerensee Mall, Freddy Schoonhoven, says that even though the mall was full during the holidays, it was quieter than 2013.

‘I presume the main reason for this is that people finalised their Christmas shopping earlier than other years. The only shops that were extremely busy from beginning to end were the supermarkets and liquor stores,’ said Schoonhoven.

The tenants of Sanlam Centre Empangeni indicated a positive growth during the festive season.

‘The number of feet remained just about the same as the previous year, but for most tenants December was much better than 2013,’ said Portfolio Manager, Marina Roets.

With the festive season over, shopping centres are now preparing for the stationery rush as schools open their doors next week.