"the worst season for retailers in living memory" - LOL!
the writer must be less than 10 years of age.
Three things are obvious from Christmas trading...
* The days on which Christmas Day and Boxing Day fall make daily comparisons from previous years fairly meaningless
* People are leaving their shopping later and later, as they are more mobile and shops stay open longer and later
* It's the overall pre-Christmas and post-Christmas trading figures that really matter - it seems there will be little difference from last year
I was in an EB in Pacific Fair, Gold Coast yesterday, Boxing Day - it was heaving, as was the whole (huge) shopping centre. I saw many kids buying full-priced games - probably with their Christmas money. And EB has plenty of competition from big local chains.
There were sales galore, of course, but retailers sell as much non-sales stuff as sales. We returned with a boot full of books and clothes but only half of our items were in a sale!!
What is most encouraging is the wide choice of good games available this year compared with last year. I was in an EB on Boxing Day last year and it was very dull and quiet. I still think we will see much better trading figures this year. There's no point debating it anymore, we will know soon enough.