A shopping centre is set for a £15 million Christmas bonanza.
Over 270,000 shoppers are expected to flow through Eagles Meadow in Wrexham during December.
Retailers are in the middle of the busiest month of the year and a number of stores have recruited extra staff to cope with the rush.
Among them is Debenhams where 17 people have been taken on – and some may be given permanent jobs in the New Year.
The festive shopping season was given a kick-start by Black Friday which saw a 16 per cent increase in footfall over the same day last year.
One of the big success stories is the Wrexham FC pop up shop that’s making £2,000 a day during the week and more on Saturdays.
Eagles Meadow manager Kevin Critchley added: “We’re certainly anticipating a bumper Christmas at Eagles Meadow. We’re well prepared for the festive rush.
“We estimate our festive shoppers will spend around £15 million during the run up to the big day which provides a big boost to the local economy.”
Emma Howe, a Sales Assistant at fashion jewellery specialists Mococo, said: “It’s been really busy so far. We even had queues to get in here in a Monday morning!
“A lot of people like the leather Pandora bracelets and the Christmas charms are very popular.
“I’m a big fan of the jewellery by Thomas Sabo because it’s cool and edgy, and I like the colours.”
Sarah Morrey, Account Manager at Benefit Cosmetics at Debenhams said: “The Sugarglam Fairies cosmetics sets have been flying off the shelves. They’re selling really well. We’ve had three drop offs of them so far, so things have been brilliant. We’re the UK’s number one premium makeup brand.”
Selling Support Manager at Debenhams, Andrew Smethurst, said: “We’re expecting an exceptionally busy Christmas period, and the Christmas temps will be first in the queue for any fulltime jobs because we will have had the chance to see what they can do.”
The Wrexham FC store is also back at Eagles Meadow to take advantage of the festive rush. They’re even launching a 150th anniversary commemorative glass with Wrexham Lager.
Steve Cook, Commercial Manager of the Vanarama Conference club, said: “They’re limited edition, gold rimmed and have the Wrexham FC colours and crest on one side and the Wrexham Lager logo on the other. They’re really nice. We’re expecting them to be really popular because glassware has been doing really well for us so far this year.
“The shirts and the hats are also doing really well.
“It’s all really positive. Being at Eagles Meadow over the Christmas period is perfect for us.
“This is our fifth pop-up shop at Eagles Meadow and we’re back there simply because they always do so well for us that we just can’t stay away.
“We’re in a prime location within a large unit near the bridge at the church end of the shopping centre which links directly into the town centre and should bring our potential customers flooding in.
“We’ve had the builders and shop-fitters in for some time and they’ve done an absolutely fantastic job for us.
Steve is also looking forward to the FA Cup tie with Premiership side Stoke City on January 3.
He said: “The draw couldn’t have gone much better for us to be fair. Stoke are a big club and a Premiership team.
“Things like this usually give us a boost in sales because people are proud of the club and they want to show it.
“This year we’ve also got more stock than ever before. With a total value of about £100,000, there are over 130 different products which include something for everyone, from kids to adults and both men and women.
“There’s a really fun range of Wrexham FC onesies in the same colours as our latest home shirt with its red and black hoops. For the first time we’ve got boxer shorts and we’re carrying loads of winter hats in all sorts of designs comparable to those you can find in the major shops.
“We’re particularly excited to be offering the full range of Nike leisurewear, which includes everything from kids’ hoodies to adult training jackets, raincoats and bench coats, all in our colours.”
