It's jingle tills as one million shoppers take to the streets

MORE than a million shoppers are expected to cram into stores across the Capital over the weekend as they search for last-minute gifts.

Stores are bracing themselves for the last-minute rush after bucking the trend of falling numbers of shoppers across the country.

The internet has been blamed for a fall in the number of high street shoppers across the UK of around five per cent.

But major stores and out-of-town shopping centres around the Capital said they were on-course to match or better the number of shoppers they had last year.

Abigail Arthurs, marketing spokeswoman for Ocean Terminal, said their experience this week had been "very encouraging".

She said: "We had 200,000 customers in the week before Christmas last year and its looking like we will have at least that amount this year.

"Apart from our Santa's grotto, we don't have any special events on in the precinct, so it is purely shoppers that are coming in to buy gifts who are making up these numbers.

"As the rest of the UK is reporting fewer shoppers than last year, we're delighted that the numbers in Edinburgh are proving an exception."

John Lewis and Fort Kinnaird believe they may also be on course to attract more shoppers than last year, with the retail park expecting half a million shoppers this weekend.

Liam Smith, general manager of Fort Kinnaird, said: "We had more than 300,000 people in the centre last week and it's looking even better for this week. We're on course to at least match last year's numbers, but we could easily see more. We've been absolutely mobbed and, as most of the stores in our centre are opening until midnight this weekend, we're expecting a lot more shoppers to come in.

"Our Marks & Spencer store is now open 24 hours to deal with the demand and will stay open until 5pm on Christmas Eve. We're hoping all of this will mean we have around half a million shoppers coming in this weekend."

Rochelle Weir, general manager of St James Shopping Centre, which saw 400,000 people enter its doors last week, said they expected to match last year's performance.

She said: "The footfall figures show city shoppers have been out in force over the festive season and I know our retailers are delighted with the volume of sales."

The city's Chamber of Commerce said the strong performance of Edinburgh's stores showed that people still wanted a "shopping experience" rather than simply buying all their Christmas gifts online.

Graham Birse, deputy chief executive of the Chamber, added: "We're seeing an improving mix of retail arising in the city centre and these figures are encouraging.

"Stores in the city will be relieved to be performing well."

EARLY BIRDS CATCH THE BARGAINS
MOST of the city's major retailers are starting their post-Christmas sales on Boxing Day, with some opening as early as 7am.
Debenhams at Ocean Terminal will begin its Boxing Day sale at 8am, while the rest of the stores in the centre will be open for business at 10am.

Marks & Spencer is expected to start its sale in the city centre by 10am, while its Fort Kinnaird outlet – which has been open 24 hours a day during the festive run-up, will open for business at 10am sharp.

Fort Kinnaird's branch of Next will open at 7am, while the rest of the retail park's stores will open their doors at 10am.

The St James Centre will re-open on Boxing Day, while most city centre retailers are expected to begin their sales at around 9am on Wednesday.

However, department store chain John Lewis will re-open for its post-Christmas sale on December 27 at 10am.