The dawn of the New Year marked a major milestone for a shopping centre in North Wales.
Eagles Meadow in Wrexham has broken through the three and a half million barrier for the number of shoppers in a year.
Overall footfall for 2016 seven per cent up on the previous year and over the past few weeks the centre has seen a 17 per cent rise in year on year figures.
One reason behind the increase was the decision to slash car park charges 12 months ago, with tickets being reduced by between 55% and 38%.
This year stores at the shopping centre took more than 70 extra staff to cope with the seasonal rush during the run up to Christmas and the New Year sales.
The largest recruiters were Debenhams and Marks & Spencer who between them hired at least 55 temporary staff, which is an increase on last year for both stores.
Another 16 staff headed for the sales floors at Next and Pandora jewellers.
It’s been so busy during at Pandora, which opened last year, that they’ve had to introduce a queuing system.
Eagles Meadow manager Kevin Critchley said: “We got off to a flying start on Boxing Day with 500 people queuing for the start of the Next sale at 6am and it’s been all systems go since then.
“There’s a real buzz around the centre and a lot of super offers and smiling faces – everyone loves a bargain don’t they?
“My advice would be to take it easy and don’t rush – there’s plenty of restaurants and cafes at the Centre and you can find whatever you need from a quick coffee and cake to a full three-course meal.
“In fact, we’ve had a very positive year in 2016.Footfall here has been running at about seven per cent up on last year since January and over the past few weeks that has surged again and we’ve seen our year on year figures up by as much as 17 per cent as we’ve gone from November into December.
“We have now passed the three and a half million mark for shoppers in a year.
“There are lots of good offers on at the stores and there seem to be more shoppers around as well.
“My advice would be to take it easy and don’t rush – there’s plenty of restaurants and cafes at the Centre and you can find whatever you need from a quick coffee and cake to a full three-course meal.
“You can even relax by having a game or two of Tenpin or by visiting our multi-screen Odeon cinema.”
