Christmas bonanza for the shops

SHOPPERS went on a last-minute Christmas shopping bonanza at the weekend and are still spending furiously. John Lewis department stores registered their best week since 1988, while Bluewater shopping centre in Kent expects pre-Christmas takings to top £220m.

Defying recession warnings, Londoners have contributed the biggest share of the record £26bn the nation has spent in the busiest retail build-up to the festive season in 13 years. And a final rush today will make a bumper Christmas even better for the major stores.

Bridget Rosewell, chief economic adviser to the British Retail Consortium, said: 'People are spending as if they are shopping for Britain. The feeling seems to be let's have a good Christmas and worry about 2002 in 2002.'

Since November, sales growth has been running at its fastest since the late Eighties. John Lewis, regarded as the bellweather of the retail sector, today reported Christmas sales up 5% on last year. While high-profile names, such as Harvey Nichols and Selfridges, have suffered a drop in big-spending visitors from overseas since the 11 September atrocities in America, this has been compensated by the British determination to ignore the global economic situation.

Recent figures have suggested retailers are on course for their best ever Christmas as the lowest interest rates for 40 years and record employment levels boost sales. Away from ventral London, shopping malls like Bluewater, Lakeside Thurrock and Brent Cross have also thrived. Bluewater expects overall takings in the eight weeks before Christmas to rise by 10% this year to £220m.

Spending on luxuries is buoyant, perhaps because people feel in need of pampering after a tough year. Jewellery sales at John Lewis are up by as much as 40% on last year.

Andrew Wills, store manager at jewellers Boodle & Dunthorne in Regent Street, described the weekend as 'very lucrative', with one customer splashing out £ 250,000 on a diamond bracelet and another £200,000 on a single diamond. Sales of electrical goods are also extremely strong, with widescreen televisions, CDs and DVDs a major success story.

Nigel Wreford-Brown, merchandising director of John Lewis, said: 'Stores in central London were depressed after 11 September almost until exactly the time the lights were switched on in Oxford Street. I think there was a psychological boost there. It suddenly reminded everyone that the Oxford Street lights were on and it's a traditional thing to do to bring children up to see the lights.'

And while Londoners have been shopping, they've also been eating out. A spokeswoman for Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, which includes Claridges, Gordon Ramsay and Petrus said: 'All three restaurants have been fully booked. There are waiting lists of at least 20 people for every lunch and dinner.'

Graham Williams, managing director of Bibendum in Old Brompton Road, said: 'The last two weeks have been two of the busiest we have ever had.'