Queues snaked around several blocks at liquor stores in west Auckland as thirsty Kiwis gear up for the second weekend in lockdown.
One West Auckland man, who tried to buy alcohol from West Liquor in both Glen Eden and Kelston, said a lot of people in the queues were not keeping a safe 2-metre distance. He told he didn't feel comfortable lining up. "There's no way that it's safe for everyone," he said. In both stores he tried to visit, he said the queue stretched around the block. Footage posted on Instagram shows hundreds of people queueing for West Liquor in Massey. "Line for alcohol all the way around the store! West Liquor Westgate, Auckland. Alert 4 Lockdown this weekend, or party time?," the caption reads. Another video shot this afternoon shows a queue spanning multiple blocks, with hundreds of people lining up to purchase alcohol from West Liquor on Railside Ave, in Henderson.
"I think the trust should be online sellers like the rest of the country," Amie, who lives in west Auckland. "This is making a mockery of the lockdown and what we are ultimately trying to achieve. People from all over are travelling to get top shelf from the Trusts." The Trusts were granted essential service status, meaning they can stay open through alert level 4. Trusts stores are operating on a one-in-one-out policy. On its website, it says only locals should travel to Trusts stores to purchase alcohol. "We are here to serve our West Auckland community – do not travel outside your local area to shop. We will report people who are travelling from outside West Auckland to shop with us to the Police," the Trusts website says. However, multiple west Aucklanders believe people from outside the area are travelling west for liquor. The decision to allow Trusts liquor stores to continue to operate during the lockdown in west Auckland has been highly contested by other local businesses which sell alcohol but have been forced to shut through this period. New Zealanders across the country can purchase alcohol online and have it delivered to their door.
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Christmas Eve busiest shopping day of the year with more than 500,000 sales
Busiest shopping day of the year
Peak time 12 noon-1 pm - 563,303 transactions
Per second peak - 167 transactions
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Number of sales beats Black Friday, but lowest Christmas Eve in six years
Christmas Eve has been the busiest shopping day of the year with 9,745 sales a minute at its peak.
Payments company Worldline says noon to 1pm saw 563,303 sales recorded on its network, down by about 7 percent on a year ago.
The company's network covers about three-quarters of the electronic terminals in operation.
Worldline did not have a dollar value for spending, but the peak number of transactions was the lowest for the past six years and well shy of the record 679,436 in 2019, before the pandemic.
Earlier this month it noted rising sales in the first three weeks of the month, but they remained 1.3 percent lower than 2024, with most parts of the country trailing the previous year's spending.
Official data from Stats NZ to the end of November showed a small rise in spending on the previous month, to 1.6 percent higher for the year.
Retail spending has been subdued as households have remained cautious because of high prices and a slow benefit from lower interest rates, and as well as concerns about the soft labour market.
However, recent surveys have shown improving consumer sentiment with ANZ bank's monthly report showing confidence at its highest level in four years.
Boxing Day is traditionally the country's favourite shopping day, but with Black Friday spending also softer this year the amount going through retailers' terminals may also be down on a year ago.
Adding a dampener to consumer spending may be the recent rises in longer term fixed mortgage rates because of higher wholesale rates.
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Poll: Is it ok to regift something that you have been given?
🎁 Holiday Gift Chat!
Do you ever regift?
What’s your take on asking for a receipt if a gift doesn’t fit?
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79.1% Yes! It's better to regift what I don't need
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20.9% No. It's the thought and effort that matters
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