One woman was at the front of the queue for both Lushes in the city centre for this year’s Boxing Day sales
Debbie was front of the queue in the Arndale and at the Lush on Market Street this morning(Image: Manchester Evening News)
Whilst most of the Arndale centre was completely desolate early this morning (December 26), one corner was packed. An hour before Lush threw open its doors, queues were already building.
The cosmetics chain was by far the most popular shop as shoppers headed into Manchester city centre for the Boxing Day sales. One woman told the Manchester Evening News she has been waiting for an hour to grab herself some deals.
By 9am, when Lush opened its shutters, the line of people waiting for half-price bath bombs and limited-edition Christmas products had grown so much that staff were forced to rope off an area for the queue.
Among those waiting was Debbie, who was second in line and had been in place since 8am.
Once she finished her shopping, she then headed over to the Lush sister store on Market Street – where she was first in the queue and waited for another hour until it opened at 11am.
“I’ve been queueing for about an hour to get in,” she told the M.E.N.. “I was queueing at the other Lush earlier in the Arndale and I was second in the queue. I managed to get everything apart from one thing. I’d been in that queue for an hour as well.”
“They only have the sales once a year and it’s 50 per cent off, so that’s why everyone’s here,” she explained. “I do this every year.
“I don’t shop online because there’s never anything available. I prefer to come to the store so I know I can actually get what I want.”
Lush, unlike other retailers, was heaving in Manchester for this year’s Boxing Day sales. Because the soap chain doesn’t offer everything online, more people head out in person to their stores for the sales, according to Debbie.
Queues began forming at Lush in the Arndale at 8am(Image: Manchester Evening News)
“It’s quiet everywhere else this year, but not Lush. Most places have started their sales online this year. I think that’s why Lush is so busy – because theirs isn’t all online,” she said. “And you’re not guaranteed to get everything online – sometimes the website crashes or it says something’s unavailable and then they refund you, even when you think you’ve bought it.”
Chloe Dudek, store manager of the Lush in the Arndale, says that their store is busy every Boxing Day. “Lush is definitely the busiest store in the Arndale today,” she said. “I think it’s so busy because people love our products, but we do have quite a high price point sometimes. So people get gift cards at Christmas and save them for the Boxing Day sale to stock up for the year.”
“It’s around 50 per cent off – not everything, but it’s quite a hefty discount,” she added. “In the sale we’ve got all the Christmas products, plus bits from Halloween, Diwali, Hanukkah and other seasonal ranges. And because our products are made fresh, we add anything that’s going out of date soon but still has a good amount of time left on it.
“I’d say so far this morning I’ve easily seen 300 people myself, but it’ll probably be in the thousands by the end of the day. Footfall this year has been pretty normal for us – we’re busy every Boxing Day. I think it’s the products and the discounts. People just love us – the smells, the atmosphere.
“We’re a staple part of a lot of people’s Christmases. Everyone gets a Christmas bath bomb, that kind of thing. Snow Fairy especially – it comes out at Christmas and it’s always the first thing to go.”
Despite the Arndale having a quiet start to the Boxing Day sales, crowds began picking up around the shops at about 10am and by noon the Arndale was full of shoppers looking for some Boxing Day savings – even if some of the stores decided to stay shut this year.
By the afternoon, customers were streaming around the shops with bags full of deals – with Lush standing out as the most popular shop for the sales this year.