Capetonians and holidaymakers are flocking to shopping malls to take advantage of the January bargains.
When the Cape Argus visited Canal Walk, most stores in the shopping centre were advertising specials, with some items discounted up to 50 percent.
Some retailers said they needed to clear space for the winter range while others admitted that, after a year of bad business, a sale was the only way to go.
Renilda Jason, who works for a shoe store in Canal Walk, said 2008 had been a slow year for the store.
"Business has never been so bad and I don't know the cause of that," said Jason.
She said their sale, which started on December 31, had helped to bring shoppers into the store.
Josephine Stanfliet, a supervisor in a clothing store, said the shop was dropping prices to make room for the winter range.
"Compared with last year, our customers have increased - we also have lots of foreigners coming in and they just shop and shop," said Stanfliet.
A worker in a homeware store in the V&A Waterfront, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the store was doing very well, chiefly because of the tourist trade.
"We have foreigners who come here with money to spend and they don't care if we have specials or not," she said.
One shopper, Nelly Dunge from Durban, in Cape Town on holiday, said she shopped only when there were specials.
"I don't buy during the festive season - I wait for the beginning of January because I know there are always specials at this time," she said.
At this time she always got things that people bought during the festive season for almost 70 percent less.
"For me, it's worth the wait because I am a single parent and I need to buy what I can afford," she added.
Retail trade figures for December/January are expected to be released by Statistics South Africa in the next few months.
Its previous retail data, released in the first week in December, showed retail sales in October had fallen for the sixth month in a row.
This article was originally published on page 4 of Cape Argus on January 05, 2009
