Saturday, December 23, 2006
Woke at 10am today, had a dian xin lunch at Tun Amina, then I drove back to Singapore smoothly, my first inter-country drive. I drove all the way to Orchard to meet dear, J, Kc & Xc at Orchard, the Traffic was just crazy. It was a mini-TKD gathering. We ate at NYDC! And the guys spent most of the time talking about NS-stuff, much to the exasperation of the girls.
Nevertheless, we had a lot of fun after dinner, walking around shopping, chatting and just taking a lot of pictures from the roadside Christmas attractions, Christmas tree etc. It was fun, but extremely crowded, it was a challenge to merely make our way through the throngs of people, and the pictures taken are a priceless memory, considering how rare it is to be able to find time to meet up now that everyone is busy with their own commitments and agendas.
This year I wanted to avoid all the major places of interest during the holiday season. Sales registers were ringing non-stop as shoppers pack malls. Last minute shoppers hit the malls at full force, department stores, shops and food courts were packed to the brim while long queues snaked at taxi stands.
The last burst of shopping will give a further boost to retailers which are reporting a bumper Christmas with higher shopper traffic and increased sales. The crowd was something you wanted to avoid, and the scene was similar everywhere, along Suntec, Marina, Orchard and including the newly opened Vivocity.
The economy is good and people generally feel like spending and consumers willingness to spend shows a strong economic sentiment, with handsome bonuses and the impending GST hike next year. All these are translating to a jolly good Christmas for retailers this year.
At centre point for example, shops reported an increase in sales of 20-25% this festive season compared to last year. Some businesses say that retail could have been even stronger if not for last week's heavy downpour which may have resulted in many shoppers staying home.
Thankfully, the weather held up yesterday and shopper traffic soared at malls across the island. More than 167,000 shoppers visited Vivocity, compared to the 150,000 at the same time of it's opening. At Ikea too, 10,000 more shoppers were at its Alexandra outlet.
Everyone was clambering for last minute deals and shopping to the last minute to jostle with the Christmas crowds and fighting the crazy traffic? Haha, I understand that sentiment quite clearly! After all I did all my shopping last week, I mean 50% sales for G2000 apparel? Even I couldn't resist that!
Pictures Courtesy of Johnny
11:29 PM
