Christmas in Aberdeen began back in November with the annual Santa and his reindeer parade, which always attracts thousands of shoppers. This year has also seen the first Aberdeen Winter Festival to date, which has brought many people into the city centre to enjoy a range of festive activities, including street entertainment and carol concerts. The land train that The Mall Aberdeen sponsors is proving as popular as ever, too.
In terms of our retailers, many of the stores at The Mall Aberdeen have reported very positive trading throughout November and this seems to be continuing into December, with most shops and food outlets busy. The one slight disappointment is that Debenhams has struggled slightly, but it has been modernising its store, which has caused some disruption and has had a knock-on effect on sales.
However, HMV, Clintons, Schuh, JD Sports and Claire’s Accessories are some that have been doing well and Superdrug is trading strongly following a refurbishment to provide a new cosmetics avenue. We are really pleased that our new independent retailers such as fashion store AB10 and AB1 Collectables are reporting that they are very happy with their sales.
Footfall for November was up 24 per cent on last year, which is extremely encouraging and up 18 per cent on the year to date. This major increase is due in large part to the opening of a large Primark last December, but also to the new programme of city centre activities that provides a point of difference for our regular shoppers.
Products that seem to be selling well are those you would expect, having become Christmas staples over the past few years – HMV told us that iPods and computer games are its biggest sellers, Schuh has sold out of Ugg boots and trainers are doing well, while Argos is seeing strong demand for computer games, with Nintendo Wii’s proving to be particularly popular.
Given the strong trading that many of our retailers are reporting, we are confident that retailers in Aberdeen won’t have as bleak a Christmas as some commentators in the national press would have you believe.
Linda Stewart, general manager of The Mall Aberdeen
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