East Lancashire snow: Weather has hit spending, say traders (From Lancashire Telegraph)

East Lancashire snow: Weather has hit spending, say traders

5:40pm Tuesday 22nd December 2009

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EAST Lancashire traders have blamed the snow for hitting Christmas shopping.

Shopkeepers said the wintry weather, which has caused traffic chaos across the area since the weekend, had affected sales in the vital last week of festive shopping.

However some others said the snow may have kept shoppers in East Lancashire and away from destinations such as Preston and Manchester.

In Blackburn, chamber of trade president David Cottam said the weather had hit shopkeepers’ hopes of a bumper Christmas.

Mr Cottam, who runs the Counsell and Woan carpet shop in Whalley New Road, Roe Lee, added: “The weather over the past few days have had a massive impact on trade.

“We were relying on Christmas to make up for the bad times this year but the snow was the last thing we needed.

“A lot of traders rely on this time of year for a third of their profits but with the weather, it is simply not happening.

“The next few days, right up to Christmas Eve, will be the crucial ones for traders.”

Charlotte Eccles, 26, opened gift shop Raffia in King Street, Clitheroe, only last month.

And, while she said the snow had affected trade in the town, she insisted shoppers had not given up.

“On Friday, when the snow came down, I expected a good day but people seemed to stay away,” she said.

“But then on Monday, I had a great day because people were obviously thinking, I have got to shop, and the weather probably kept people from going down to Blackburn or Preston.”

Miss Eccles, a former TV researcher in London who moved back up to Lancashire this year, said that her shop, along with others in Clitheroe, would remain open until late on Christmas Eve.

She added: “Some people will not finish work until 5pm and they need us to be open.”

Meanwhile, in Burnley, Charter Walk Shopping Centre boss Chris Gribben said that the town’s traders were coping well compared with last year’s recession-ravaged Christmas.

He said: “The reports I have had back from retailers are that they are meeting their targets or even beating them.

"I think that’s partly down to the euphoria that remains from Burnley FC’s promotion in May.

“The snow has impacted but I think we may even have benefitted from it because Burnley people are loyal and it has probably kept them in the town to do their shopping.”

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