By Emma Sun
PAKENHAM traders are reporting mixed results for their Christmas sales with the opening of Pakenham MarketPlace.
Irene Burgell from Embellish Fashions said that business is not very good at the moment, and is considerably down from the same time last year.
“I don’t know whether it’s the new centre because there’s nothing there that’s like what we’ve got, but maybe everybody just goes over there to do their Christmas shopping,” she said.
“It could also do with the way the year’s been, I can’t totally blame the centre but it’s been a lot quieter than normal.”
Darren Spargo from Photo Barn agreed and said sales were down, but couldn’t be happier about the amount of people the shopping centre is drawing to Pakenham.
“Since the centre has been opened, there certainly seems to be a lot more people in the town, which is good for the town and will have an affect on store traffic,” he said.
“I think it’s important for traders to revisit their trading hours and realign them with the centre so people can also see what great shops we have in the town.
“We’ve got lots more people passing through the store but in terms of actual sales, it’s very hard to say because we’re a little flat at the moment.
“We expect it to go off this week.”
Matt Hardy from Hardy’s Mitre 10 Mega said business couldn’t get any better and had nothing but praise for the new shopping centre.
“It’s increased our business and the traffic flow through the store so the centre has been good for our business,” he said.
“The increased car parking is definitely an advantage.
“It is a good drawcard that holds people in the town and it saves them driving out of Pakenham to Fountain Gate and Chadstone.”
