LIVERPOOL ONE saw a surge in both footfall and sales during the crucial Christmas period, new figures reveal.
St John’s shopping centre also saw a footfall rise. However, Liverpool city centre’s major shopping areas including Church, Street, Lord Street and Bold Street experienced a fall from 2011.
Despite the tough economic climate, which in the past few days has seen the collapse of high street stalwarts Jessops, HMV and Blockbuster, Liverpool One’s stores saw year-on-year sales rise 5.4% in December.
Footfall for the month was up 2.6% and Saturday, December 1 was the busiest in the five-year history of the £1bn development.
On that day, 172,000 people visited Liverpool One – a 13% rise on the same Saturday in 2011.
Liverpool One estate director, Chris Bliss, told the Post: “It was an exceptional Christmas period.
“The back end of November was a little bit slow but once we hit December we saw some amazing statistics.
“I think we have done well for a whole host of reasons. We have a very strong retail offer. Harvey Nichols Beauty Bazaar joining us recently is a good example of that.”
St John’s shopping centre, which houses many value retailers, said the week beginning December 17 was its busiest since 2007 as 455,655 people came through its doors. It welcomed 1.4m people in December – up from 1.3m in 2011.
