Saturday, good weather, Advent: Many people in NRW were drawn to the city centers before the first Advent. The dealers are happy about that - even if some customers apparently just rummaged around at first.
Düsseldorf/Cologne (dpa/lnw) - The North Rhine-Westphalia trade association is optimistic about the coming weeks in view of the busy city centers on the Saturday before the first Advent. "As a start to the Advent business, this is very hopeful," said Carina Peretzke, spokeswoman for the Rhineland, on Sunday. Many retailers were very satisfied with the number of customers on Saturday.
However, the large number of visitors had not yet been reflected one-to-one in sales. Peretzke emphasized: "We're still a long way from being back to the pre-crisis level."
The centers in Düsseldorf, Cologne and Dortmund were very well attended on Saturday afternoon, as the police control centers confirmed. "One noticed: People are coming back to the door," said Peretzke from the NRW-Rhineland trade association. The weather was very good in many places. The Christmas markets also attracted many people to the inner cities.
A statement from the NRW Aachen-Düren-Köln trade association stated that not all sectors and municipalities were equally satisfied. Electronics retailers, for example, hardly felt any revival in business because many in the industry had only just struck Black Friday. On the other hand, there is, for example, the "clothes retailer who hardly dared to tell how well things went for her."
According to a survey by the association among sole proprietors, many people went into business. When it comes to sales, there is still room for improvement for many, it said. Peretzke said this indicates that many people were just browsing on the first Sunday of Advent. It is not unusual for people to first look: "What can I buy for gifts?"
Many have also already used offers around Black Friday - the so-called Black Week - for purchases. In this country, too, it is developing more and more at the start of the Christmas business, said Peretzke. "Although most Christmas gifts will probably be bought in December again this year, there is a slight shift to November," she said.
