Thousands of people hit the sales at Westwood Cross sho[pping centre today (December 26) with queues forming from 2am.
The first two shoppers in the queue were Lisa Teyn and Donna L Johns. They said: “We are first in the queue, it’s a buzz and exciting. We plan this in advance every year – it’s better than Christmas!”
Brands including Next, M&S, Debenhams and Primark welcomed throngs of customers, with Yankee Doodle Diner opening early to provide refreshments to those queuing.
Centre manager Francesca Donovan said: “We were thrilled to welcome so many shoppers on the very first morning of the sale. Thanet residents certainly love a good bargain, and year on year we welcome even more shoppers to make the most of the discounts.”
The Westwood Cross Shopping Centre Winter Sale runs throughout January, with retailers offering discounts of up to 70%.
How very sad
Sad. How very sad.
Very Very Sad and if i did queue `Next` would be my last choice !
People do this every year-it does make you wonder the mindset of people to spend a night out awake in freezing temperatures, one assumes having to urninate themselves as they cannot leave to go to a toilet without losing their place in the line & I doubt the facilities there are open in the small hours of boxing day & for what? 30% off a dress or a pair of jeans? You can probably go online & get the same deal & get it delivered on the 27th or 28th.
I don’t know. Perhaps this article should run alongside the article about the East Kent Hoodeners. After all, this queueing for the sales could be seen as a new tradition, bringing people together in a common activity. Lots of excitement and good cheer etc. Folk entertainment. A chance to chat and make friends while waiting.Complete with a hit of anticipation that “this year” there will be a real bargain! No more pointless and futile than most “folk traditions” really.
New tradition? This has been going on for years and years..Boxing day used to be the start of the sales, but with year long ‘sales’ going on now the excitement of the start of sales wained.
These type of stories are a Christmas staple. Yes, I do wonder about the mindset of people who choose to queue outside a shop at Christmas, when so many other people are having to live in shopfronts and skips, because they don’t have a home.They are a retailer’s dream, where as the reality is far more banal. As Steve suggests, the bargains are probably minimal and the ‘savings’ illusory.Perhaps the bargain hunters can donate a little of their savings to a homeless charity.
I wish stores had to remain closed on Boxing Day. The staff who work in the shops don’t have the chance to really enjoy their Christmas Day as know they have to be up so early the next morning. What difference would it make if the sales started on the 27th? No less income for the stores I am sure and the same people who queue up on the 26th would simply do it on the 27th anyway.
Perhaps they should have let some homeless people use their house while they slept on the streets
I agree with all the comments above about these foolish people who think Christmas is about getting first in the queues to search for a bargain when a shop opens. What bargain anyway? You will usually read in the small print that the sale has savings “UP TO 70%” and much of it is crap brought in specially to sell in the supposed sale. If they want to freeze and lose sleep for the sake of getting in a newspaper more fool them but they really need educating about Christmas and helping others instead of themselves. It’s nice to know though that most people have more sense.
All these so-called sales prove is how much the stores ripped shoppers off before Christmas when the shoppers paid full price.
How depressing to see so many negative reactions to people who – using their own free will – choose to queue through the night to be sure of getting the best deal on something.Perhaps if those complaining in the above posts were as proactive in aspects of their own lives,they would feel less bitter about others who opt to do something they wouldn’t.
Pathetic response!!! Nobody was complaining, just putting their views over. That’s what comments section is for. Get a life grumpy!
It is more depressing to see the unfettered greed of our society-people trampling over each other & fighting over televisions etc in Black Friday sales. People who would rather spend Christmas Night/Boxing Day not with their families, but freezing in urine stained clothing waiting for a store to open at 8 in the morning so they can get some kind of reduction for something probably worn by a vapid celebrity on some awful reality show that will probably be chucked in the garbage by them in a few months time. Where is the dignity? The self-worth? And no this isn’t a Christian values speech as I am an atheist.
Frank’Grumpy’ Jones,
What an asinine response. I, for one, am quite ‘pro-active’ in many aspects of my personal life, just do not waste it queuing up in the freezing cold to make yet another purchase just because there are a few pounds knocked off the asking price. My opinion, and it is MY opinion which I am entitled to express, is that I have better and more productive things to do rather than taking that addictive drug that is retail therapy.
I would suggest that the negativity is shown by those that “need to shop” – there are far better ways of using one’s time.
However, everybody to their own – this is just not mine.
I agree with Mr Laming.
I would chose not to queue up in the early hours of the morning in order to get a few quid off something I probably don’t really want. I can’t say that I admire those who do: mostly I feel a mixture of sorrow and despair.