Business cheer amid spending spree

Published Dec 23, 2014

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Pretoria - Business is in full swing at shops and malls across the city as people try to make up for time lost during power outages this festive season.

Fanie du Plessis, of the Capital City Business Chamber, said mall robberies, strikes, job losses and load-shedding had all cut into profits of many businesses this year.

Du Plessis said load-shedding – especially at weekends – put businesses behind in business hours and most are banking on the last-minute festive shopping splurge to catch up.

“You have an array of problems that came with load- shedding, so longer business hours would all be in the hope of gaining back those lost hours.”

Recently, malls and smaller shops suffered when power was cut for hours at a time on Saturdays and Sundays.

For security reasons many shops without generators simply had to close their doors until the electricity was restored.

Du Plessis said there was some cautiousness in spending habits this time around.

But for many out shopping on Monday, the main objective was to get something nice for their children.

Toyzone manager Denise Pieterse said Christmas season was always a crazy time for the shop as people still spent a lot on toys.

“Parents save up for this time of the year. Even if it’s not extravagant gifts that cost R5 000, they make sure to get something for their kids,” she said.

“Luckily we weren’t badly affected by the load-shedding and kept operating even with the electricity gone. We gave customers torches and had staff to assist them when necessary,” she said.

Pieterse said their top sellers were the Leap TV game as it was interactive and loved by kids.

The toys adapted from the Walt Disney animation movie, Frozen, also proved popular. “The toys from the movie were flying off the shelves the moment they arrived. The kids loved them and Anna dolls are sold out,” she said.

Lego also remains popular, with hi-tech and interactive toys and gadgets also winners.

Giovanni Bonanni, manager of Lilliputs Toys in Sandton, said the Lego movie (and exhibition now touring South Africa) may have helped promote the toy but it is a perennial favourite for parents. “Lego is a fantastic brand. Anything Lego sells fantastically.”

Pretoria News

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