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22 million shoppers set to splash out billions in Boxing Day spree

The centre opened its doors at 6am, with the majority of stores open by 8am.

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It is estimated that more than 85,000 shoppers visited throughout the day.


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We’ve witnessed consistently strong footfall since Black Friday and the Christmas week was exceptionally busy.


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Millions of shoppers hit the streets after many also took advantage of online discounts on Christmas Day.

Anthony Foran, centre manager, said: “There has been a great buzz at The Broadway today with customers keen to make the most of the sales and bag the best bargains”.

“We’ve had a good time”, she said.

“The flooding took a bit of an edge off, but it certainly looked brisk to me”.

“With the sales set to kick off very early on Boxing Day there will be plenty of bargains for everyone”.

A number of Bond Street stores will open on Boxing Day for the first time as a result of it falling this year on a Saturday rather than a public holiday.

Many stores started slashing prices around 6pm on Christmas Eve.

Sales were more weighted towards the end of the day, said the firm’s marketing director Diane Wehrle.

He added: “We appreciate that consumers are being cautious with spending this year, and our retailers have worked hard to entice customers with tempting promotions. From walking around the centre today, it is clear that Middlesbrough shoppers are really making the most of the sales”.

The change is relied upon to accent Boxing Day spending to nearly $1 billion as deal seekers hit shops nearby their homes for the customary blowouts.

Selfridges had its most successful-ever first hour of trade, taking more than £2 million between 9am and 10am across its stores.

Speaking ahead of the Boxing Day sales Deb O’Donnell, Vangarde Shopping Centre manager, said: “As Vangarde Shopping Park enters into its second festive period, we have continued to see an increase in visitors to the shopping park in comparison to a year ago, naturally leading to an increase in sales”.

He told the Press Association: “We are in the West End, which is a huge worldwide draw, so we see a lot of global shoppers here – 50 per cent of our shoppers are tourists, particularly from China, the Middle East and the U.S., and they probably spend about four or five times the amount of a United Kingdom shopper”.

Online shopping continues to grow fast, with experts suggesting £856 million would be spent on Internet shopping on Boxing Day alone.

Footfall for the week before Christmas, recorded from December 14 to 20, from cameras in Coney Street, Stonegate, Parliament Street, and Micklegate, showed a 0.6 per cent rise from the same week in 2014, with 669,683 passers by.

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There were already signs that Australia would enjoy a strong Christmas trading period this year thanks to the low Aussie dollar and with pre-Christmas trade up by 4 per cent on the previous year.

As Australians are tipped to spend more than $2 billion online over the post Christmas sales period consumers are being urged be vigilant when shopping online