‘Mixed bag’ for Witney high street traders amid rising costs

While most had a reasonably good festive period, all said they were affected by customers' household finances being squeezed and the fact they continue to see a drop in footfall.

Matthew Lewis, manager of Toy Galaxy on Witney High Street, said despite early concerns it had been ‘unexpectedly good’.

He said: “We had been so worried as it had been quiet but three days before Christmas there was a big rush. In the end it's been about the same as last year."

But he added: "To be honest we have not fully recovered from the pandemic and I don’t think we ever will.

“People started shopping online, they started shopping differently.”

Richard Austin, of  independent lifestyle store Vinegar Hill, also had a decent festive period.

He said: "We traded well up to Christmas, slightly up on last year, which we were really pleased with bearing in the economic headwinds and heavy discounting on the high street."

Others said it was clear customers were cutting back or shopping online.

Lisa Clements and Kirsty Thompson, of Sassi fashion boutique, said: "I think we can speak for most shops in town, when we say that this year has been very tough. 

"The summer was difficult.  This was not helped by the weather and although the last two weeks before Christmas was busy for us, we have found we are still down compared to last year and nowhere near our pre-pandemic sales figures."

They said Christmas was a golden period that supports the rest of the winter.

"We rely on our November and December sales to carry us through January and February as these months are always quiet," they said.

"Although we will be OK, we do feel for other businesses that may not be in these difficult times.  

"We as a business started in a recession in 2010, so we are resilient and will survive and are looking forward to bringing our prom collection back in the February half term which we will be doing bigger and better than before so are confident this will give us a boost." 

And Tamsin Butler, of lifestyle boutique Lily's Attic, said customers weren’t cutting back on buying gifts but competition was fiercer than ever.

She said: "Christmas trade was the same as last year - nothing had changed - which was really good and a big relief.

But she added: "Retail is getting harder and to stay competitive and offer something different is getting extremely hard.

"The atmosphere seemed different this year which was sad. People didn’t seem as festive and there are a lot of people suffering financially out there.

"It felt people were out shopping because they had to not that they wanted to. But overall it was same as last year just lacked a bit of festiveness."

Meanwhile Witney Christmas Market on December 8 -10 drove a 59 per cent surge in footfall compared to the same weekend the previous year, said West Oxfordshire District Council.

The market at Marriotts Walk made a remarkable 70 per cent increase in town centre footfall from the previous week.

Overall, this translated to an additional 15,000 visitors over the three-day period.

Cllr Duncan Enright, deputy leader and executive member for economic development at the council, which now owns the shopping centre, said "we've witnessed the immense popularity and positive impact that special events can make to our town centres".