Retailers bank on last-minute shoppers to ring in a bumper Christmas

2 months ago 16

Retailers across Melbourne are preparing for the annual rush of last-minute shopping for Christmas gifts, though a major industry body says more of us are getting in and buying early.

The opening and closing times of the city’s major department stores appear to reflect this trend. While some shopping centres will stay open until midnight on Tuesday, by Wednesday most will return to normal closing hours of 6pm.

Mary-Jane Caiafa and father Michael of M&G Caiafa at Queen Victoria Market. Their working day on Christmas Eve will start at 2am.

But some shopping can’t be done early, and fresh produce traders have to put in long hours to satisfy demand.

Just ask workers at Queen Victoria Market, where Christmas Eve shifts will start at 2am.

Staff at the market’s speciality bakery, M&G Caiafa, will arrive at work on Wednesday nearly three hours earlier than normal, having spent weeks taking orders and making sure the goods are baked, fresh and ready for Christmas.

Doors open to customers at 5am, and by 10am the bakery will have already sold about 1000 croissants. By 11am, just as staff are starting to tire, they will have sold 2000 baguettes.

A second wind of energy might come about 11.30am, in time to push through to the end of trading at 3pm. But the rush will have been worth it, as during the Christmas period, the business will make about 50 per cent of its annual revenue, and Christmas Eve has been the busiest day of the year.

M&G Caiafa has been baking bread and pastries and selling chocolates at the market for 52 years, and founders Michael and Grace now run the business with their four children.

Daughter Mary-Jane Caiafa said the Christmas period was now crucial to the business’s fortunes.

“There’s a big rush at the moment, but I just remember the market always being like this 20 years ago,” she said. “The Christmas hype [used to be] double what we get now in terms of customers coming through.”

Sawanya Thakarnpong of Market Boys, one of Queen Victoria Market”s fresh produce traders.

A stroll away, the market’s fruit vendors will do a roaring trade in seasonal berries and stone fruits from 5am on Wednesday until they sell out. The market’s specialty clothing stores are open from 9am until 3pm.

The last-minute rush at the market is something of an exception to the rule when it comes to Christmas shopping. Increasingly, Australians are researching more and shopping earlier, taking advantage of the Black Friday sales in late November.

Fleur Brown of the Australian Retailers Association said the new shopping trend was a symptom of the cost-of-living crisis.

Christmas shoppers at Chadstone shopping centre last year.

“People are trying to manage their household budgets,” she said. “November is the new December, and retailers are seeing the spending even out.”

Brown said the association predicted shoppers would spend $72.4 billion over the six-week pre-Christmas period – a 4 per cent uptick from 2024.

She said this would be a good result given the financial pressures.

“A lot is riding on the outcome of this six-week period, some retailers make two-thirds of their profits at this time of year,” she said.

Brown urged anyone who was shopping last-minute to be kind to retail staff, as they were also likely to be stressed and often working their first job.

“It’s an intense period, tempers fray, but we don’t want their experience to be a harrowing one,” she said.

Brown said retailers would keep as many avenues as possible open for last-minute sales, including online shopping.

While Santa Claus will receive milk and cookies for his labours on Christmas Eve, Melbourne’s retailers will need to fend for themselves – if they remember.

Back at Queen Victoria Market, Mary-Jane Caiafa said that after working a mammoth Christmas Eve, her family often forgets to take bread home for their own table.

“We try and make a conscious effort to get our shopping done early in the morning so we’ve got fresh bread,” she said.

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