Dundee retailers’ sales boosted as shoppers splash cash

Retailers in Dundee are enjoying a post-festive sales boost, with the average family spending £120 in the sales.

Low fuel prices and mild weather provide an ideal shopping climate, with consumers across Tayside pumping millions of pounds into the city’s economy in an effort to find a bargain.

At the Wellgate, centre manager Jon Walton said items flew off the shelves so fast, staff couldn’t keep up.

He said: “People are shopping, not just browsing, which is fantastic.

“I know that we have had positive feedback from the stores within the centre and you see some of them have their shelves almost clear.

“Cards, gifts, clothing, fashion, everything has been performing really well in the post-Christmas sales,” he said.

“I can happily tell you that nearly all of our stores have reported sales are up year-on-year.”

In the first three days of the sales, around 180,000 shoppers splashed out an estimated £2.7 million in the city centre.

Jason Turner, a retail expert at Abertay University, believes the encouraging sales figures are down to shoppers having a bit more cash in their pockets this year and predicted the trend will continue.