332 new cases, 2 deaths; Covid to impact Big Boxing Day sales

The cases came from more than 64,000 tests, with the state’s hospitalisation rate also decreasing.There are now 469 Covid patients in hospital in NSW, with 123 in intensive care.Latest Covid case numbersMeanwhile, the traditional Boxing Day sales are gone and, while it may never be a better time to buy a winter coat, you’re out of luck if you want Christmas presents, summer clothes or a shop assistant to help.It’s been two weeks since the lockdown lifted and it is clear the retail industry is struggling, with lack of staff, stock delays and a lockdown-inspired push for online sales set to make this a very different Christmas sale experience.Australian Retailers Association CEO Paul Zahra said the biggest change would be to Boxing Day sales — the typical shopping mayhem with thousands of shoppers bowling over each other to grab a deal now ended.“We’re not going to see those images for some time to come, people are shifting to shopping online … when you put that Covid safety in place it puts a lot of customers off,” he said.“In the traditional day, retailers would want to drive high volumes of traffic. Those images of opening up the doors of a department store and having thousands of people (rush in) … that was seen as a real positive. These days it wouldn’t be.”Bigger retailers are consolidating stores and downsizing shop floors as online business grows and staffing levels reach critical lows. “Not all businesses are back up running and thriving, some businesses are struggling with staffing and that’s partly because the borders are down, so if you see shops shut it’s probably because of staffing,” Mr Zahra said.Another issue has been staff not being vaccinated, or fully vaccinated, either by choice or because of lack of access to Pfizer. “It’s a common thread when I speak to retailers, they say: ‘I’ve opened this location and moved all my staff to this location … I can’t open my other locations because I just don’t have the staff’,” Mr Zahra said.Mr Zahra warned the staffing crisis would hurt the crucial Christmas trading period, which was also struggling after the international challenges of the pandemic led to long delays in stock.In Westfield Tuggerah many clothing stores stayed closed in the first few days of eased restrictions, while personal services exploded. The line for one barber snaked through the shopping centre, with some waiting for hours to secure a haircut. In Broadway Shopping Centre in Sydney’s inner west, customers at the Sportsgirl store were confronted with almost empty racks after reopening. A shop assistant said a massive influx of customers in the first week cleared them out of all stock, and with delivery delays the shop was sitting empty until new stock arrived. Finding a new summer outfit was difficult at most shopping centres last week but tonnes of unsold winter stock meant plenty of bargains on coats and jumpers. Small businesses especially will be relying on people spending big over the next few months as government support winds down.Research from Roy Morgan shows that 58 per cent of shoppers will buy more Christmas gifts online this year but, with significant postal delays the deadline is quickly approaching. Mr Zahra said it would take “years, not months” for the CBD to recover, while Business Illawarra executive director Adam Zarth said suburban shopping centres would bounce back quicker thanks to people still working from home. “I think the Christmas rush will be enormous this year and there will be huge support for the local shopping strips … everyone knows their local cafe, their local retailers. We know what they’ve been through and we’ll be out there supporting them,” he said. While Mr Zarth said most small businesses have rent reduction arrangements with landlords, not all small businesses have been so lucky. Marrickville Metro cafe owner Miah Tareque wasn’t granted a rent reduction, and with no customers and takings as low as $250 a day, he was forced to shut for good. The cafe owner of six years couldn’t hold back tears as he told The Saturday Telegraph the stress of losing his beloved business put him in hospital. “I got very bad anxiety at that time and stress, I couldn’t sleep and I went to hospital,” he said. “I just was not expecting this to happen so quick, it’s such a shock and so sad.”Mr Tareque was forced to sell his cafe furniture and pay for the shop to be gutted, ready for a new retailer to take over the lease. He said while customers were now coming back in droves, there were many shop owners who lost their businesses to high rents during the lockdown who would never come back.RUSH TO DRESS TO LOOK THE PARTAfter wearing activewear for four months of lockdown, people have gone crazy for dresses – and one in particular.Department stores and fashion boutiques said the demand in the past two weeks had been reminiscent of Boxing Day sales.Daily Telegraph – News Feed latest episode“Our customers are definitely making up for lost time and life out of lockdown. We’ve seen a huge uptake in sales for dresses as they embrace events, dining out and the warmer weeks ahead,” Myer’s Annabel Talbot said.“In the past few weeks, we have sold more than 110,000 dresses alone.”Many of these were “the new Carrie Bradshaw dress”.When Sarah Jessica Parker was photographed during filming the Sex And The City revival series in a powder-blue Norma Kamali dress, the world went crazy.The $349 dress sold out immediately at Myer. “Norma Kamali, the new ‘it’ brand worn by Sarah Jessica Parker and the powder-blue Diana gown heralded as the new ‘Carrie’ dress by Vogue US, sold out worldwide and at Myer within days after the story went viral,” Ms Talbot said. “We still have the Carrie style in black and rose pink in store and online.”Online fashion brand Leina & Fleur said it received a similar reception since lockdown lifted. “Our dresses are literally selling out within hours of releasing them online,” co-owner Fleur Richardson said. Got a news tip? 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