Burnham-On-Sea shops have experienced a positive festive season of business, with many reporting a busy Christmas.
Burnham-On-Sea.com has spoken to several shop owners across the town centre to find out how they fared over the vital holiday period.
Truckles farm shop’s Ron Bashford said: “We had a very good Christmas of trade, with busy spells either side of the cold snap when it was quieter. Overall, trade has been better than expected.”
Ryan Mount at High Street fishmonger Seafoods adds: “Trade has been strong. We had a busy December compared to the last time that Christmas fell on a Sunday seven years ago. However, as we were unable to sell poultry this year due to supply issues at our usual supplier, this meant overall numbers were not as high as some years.”
A Bastins spokesman added: “It’s been a good Christmas for us with busier than expected trade. The sale of Christmas cards was particularly good, along with smaller gifts as well.”
GW Hurleys’ Colin Morris added: “We had a good month at our shops on both sides of the High Street – it was busier than expected, although not as good as some previous years.”
“The council really should introduce free parking in Burnham for shoppers for the whole month like Mendip District Council does in their area. That said, it’s been a good Christmas season for greeting card sales at the shop.”
James Lin at Kyffins Health Foods in Victoria Street said: “It has been a quieter month for us – the overall economy does seem to have slowed spending, but we still had a steady flow of our regulars and are hoping for a busier 2023.”
Raj Sansi at Burnham Shopping Centre said: “We had a normal Christmas of trade with plenty of our regulars coming in. The recent cold spell was particularly busy with sales of winter jackets, coats, thermals and gloves.”
Sweet Shack’s Lyn Laurence added: “We’ve had a good year. It was great to see the High Street busy in December during the run-up to Christmas with lots of people supporting the town centre.”
“Part of the success was that some people weren’t confident in getting online deliveries before Christmas due to the postal strikes, so shopping local was a much better option. We are lucky in Burnham to have such a great range of shops.”
