Festive helpers to ferry Christmas shoppers to Melbourne retail precincts

ARE your feet dreading Christmas shopping? Not this year. Seven inner-city precincts have joined forces to ferry Melburnians around in tuktuks with elves at the helm.

MELBURNIANS won’t have to shop ’til they drop this Christmas — with tuktuks to ferry them between inner-city shopping strips.

Seven CBD retail precincts have joined forces to tackle the popularity of suburban shopping centres this festive season.

Tuktuks — with elves at the helm — will cart shoppers to the doors of Melbourne Central, Emporium Melbourne, GPO, QV Melbourne and The Strand ­on Wednesday as part of a 12-hour sales blitz, Shop the City, from 10am.

The Strand’s Shane Brown does a bit of shopping with a Christmas elf in Melbourne. Picture: Tony Gough

Shane Brown, of The Strand, said Melbourne’s CBD wanted to retain its title as “Australia’s premier shopping destination”.

“As a united group we’re able to make shopping easier, which we hope will increase sales in the CBD throughout the season,” he said.

More than 13 million people are expected to descend on the participating Shop the City stores during the Christmas period, including Boxing Day.

The Christmas campaign covers three city blocks and more than 1000 shops.

Victorians will splash more than $12 billion on pre-Christmas shopping, according to data from the Australian Retailers Association and Roy Morgan Research.

Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said Christmas was the “most important time of the year” for CBD traders.

“The city’s big brands and boutique retailers provide unparalleled Christmas shopping, while you can find some of the best coffee and food at Melbourne’s renowned restaurants and cafes,” he said.