Bargain hunters in their tens-of-thousands hit Casuarina Square
Almost a quarter of the entire Top End population dropped into Casuarina Square on Boxing Day. Read what they were buying.
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Car parking was at a premium and turnover three times normal as Top End residents rolled-up in force to Casuarina Square for the annual Boxing Day sales on Tuesday.
An estimated 33,000 Territorians are expected through Casuarina’s doors before the venue shuts-up shop at 6pm – that’s edging towards a quarter of Greater Darwin’s entire population.
Centre manager Polly Lamond said Boxing Day was the biggest shopping day of the year.
More than 3500 shoppers had visited the centre within an hour of the 9am opening – about three times more than a regular Tuesday.
With Santa back at the North Pole and no longer distracting kids, most shoppers had a clear line of site to the bargains.
Queuing outside Peter Alexander’s pyjama store along with dozens of other hopefuls, Gunn mother and daughter Grace and Peta Rossow were making the most of the sales.
At one stage not long after 9am, a 40m queue stretched from outside the popular nightwear outlet.
“I’m trying to buy all the Christmas PJs that are on sale because I refuse to pay full price,” Grace said. “I’m here to get a bargain and I refuse to pay full price for anything.”
Mum Peta agreed: “Same here. I’m the driver.”
John Prentiss from Middleton Colorado had never heard of Boxing Day, let alone the retail sales that are such a huge part of the day following Christmas.
“Never heard of Boxing Day,” John said.
“In the States we have Black Friday but you have that here too. It’s great.
“I’m heading over to East Timor where my wife’s working and I’m doing some shopping before then.”
From the retailers perspective, Country Road was buzzing with shoppers about midday and had a full contingent of staff to meet demand.
International exchange students Sanjit Manandhar and Dipesh Adhikari were also after bargains before their return home to Nepal in coming months.
“The bargains are great,” Dipesh said between shops.
“We’re looking for clothes, jackets, shoes – the shopping’s really good,”
Nationally, the Australian Retailers Association estimates Australians will spend $1.23bn between Tuesday and January 15 - up 1.6 per cent on 2022.
For the year, Australians spent $23.9bn retail shopping this year, also up 1.6 per cent on 2022.
ARA CEO Paul Zahra said the importance of the Boxing Day sales could not be understated as retailers looked to build momentum heading into the new year.
“Boxing Day is the grand final of Australia’s favourite sport, shopping,” Mr Zahra said.
“There’s no doubt Aussies love a bargain and despite cost-of-living pressures and economic turbulence, Australians are still set to spend slightly more than last year in the final pitstop before 2024.
“This is the biggest clearance event of the year – as retailers move to clear stock and refresh their offerings ahead of the new year. Shoppers can expect to find some unprecedented deals
both instore and online”
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Originally published as Bargain hunters in their tens-of-thousands hit Casuarina Square
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