It may be payday weekend but businesses throughout Gloucestershire might not find themselves snowed under by customers this weekend. With the Beast from the East and Storm Emma wreaking havoc across the country, it’s likely that shoppers will be unwilling to brave the icy conditions outside to nip into town.
According to Zenith Media, weekly expenditure increases by around 14% in the week after payday, with 30% of transactions being made on food, and 22% on clothing.
We’ve already seen images of empty shelves in supermarkets as people panic-buy what they can, but how are other shops and stores looking to fare?
The snow and ice mean it’s unlikely that local retailers will see the kinds of sales that they normally would for this time of the month. That includes clothes shops, kitchen fitters and local gift shops, who all depend on footfall through town to get customers in. But with Cheltenham town centre under several inches of snow, the only people walking through are heading straight for work, home or a park to play in the snow.
It’s not only shops that are likely to lose out though. 15% of payday weekend spending is in pubs and bars on Friday and Saturday night. But with temperatures set to plummet overnight, will people want to walk from venue to venue to have a drink?
Would normally be all for the snow but was planning on going out tomorrow night :/
— Sam (@SamJBaker16) 1 March 2018
Laura Burridge, Sales Coordinator at one of Cheltenham’s biggest bars, said: “I think it will affect footfall because a lot of taxis aren’t running, it’s dangerous and it’s freezing cold. The bar has already received a couple of cancellations and people are questioning whether the bar is even open at all.”
There is still hope for venues though, as there are members of the public who are not giving up on their weekend plans that easily.
All I’m saying is that this weather isn’t stopping me from going out on Saturday night
— Elliott Waring (@elliottwaringgg) 1 March 2018
Clearly the weather is having an impact on business in Gloucestershire, but the extent of it won’t be known until sometime next week.
