THE nation is expected to blow a last billion on Christmas 2002 today, having set new records for leaving it all to the last moment.

Shops that have been pushing Christmas goodies since October were at last relieved to see extra crowds of eager customers surging through their doors yesterday. Many, including Marks & Spencer, Tesco and other leading supermarket chains, kept shops open until midnight last night to try to relieve pressure at the tills today.

Wine and spirit retailers, jewellers, electrical goods shops and clothes stores are all experiencing a late rush, and many food purchases are being left until the last possible moment.

Barclaycard forecast that its customers’ Christmas Eve spending would top £110 million. That would equate to a £1.2 billion spend for the nation as a whole, despite the fact that most shops are closing early this evening, typically at 4 or 5pm.

Ian Barber, a Barclaycard spokesman, said that it was not easy to tell why people left their Christmas shopping later each year. “It may be that people are trying to put off the inevitable, or that they are hoping for last-minute discounts,” he theorised. “Whatever the reason, the convenience of modern shopping encourages people to think they can leave it to the last minute.”

Men are the traditional leaders in last-minute Christmas shopping, and jewellery leads the surge in late presents, with sales nearly doubling in the week before Christmas. Tiffany and Asprey & Gerrard in London had fully staffed counters doing brisk trade in gold and diamonds yesterday, selling thousands of pounds worth of charm bracelets, necklaces and earrings per hour.

Elsewhere, the object of shoppers’ belated desire was a stocking-filler or an additional present, at what the retail stores describe as “pocket money prices”. A spokeswoman for Hamleys, the toy shop in Regent Street, London, said: “All the big ticket items such as Scalextric and model railway sets sell fast over the last weekend before Christmas. What parents are rushing for now is a little extra something they hope will make their kids’ Christmas complete.”

The fastest selling item yesterday was Astrojax, a futuristic yo-yo with flashing lights and a disco-lighting effect, at £9.99. Second was Hamley’s Bubblegun, a chrome bubble blower also at £9.99. A two-pack set of plastic foam Planes at £5.99 occupied third place.

In Manchester, shoppers were drawn by the prospect of mulled wine from continental-style markets in Albert Square and St Anne’s Square. Stores in the nearby Arndale Centre are hoping for record Christmas sales; latest figures showed a 25 per cent increase over last year. Susan Bamford, the Arndale’s marketing manager, said: “We have been approaching the one million mark for people through the centre. It certainly could be a good Christmas.” Among must-have items flying out of the shops were the PlayStation 2 game Grand Theft Auto, diamond jewellery and the new mobile telephones with picture-messaging capabilities.

In Leeds, crowds in the Victoria Quarter of upmarket shops were swelled by thousands of single shoppers. John Bade, the centre director, said the “last-minuters” gave off an air of desperation as they rushed around the shelves of Ted Baker, Gieves and Hawkes and Vivienne Westwood. “I thought today and tomorrow would be mostly for food shopping but all the stores are bustling,” he said.

DVDs, the fastest-selling product this year, were still in huge demand around Britain, the fastest late sellers being Robbie Williams’s Escapology, the Band of Brothers box set, and the television comedy, The Office. Late bestsellers among books included The Osbournes’ Official Companion, while sales of calendars were led by Kylie Minogue’s.

Barclaycard’s figures suggest that supermarket sales will soar 70 per cent today as customers stock up. Somerfield said that its pre-order figures showed that the nation was seeking less familiar alternatives to the traditional turkey, with at least one household in 50 enjoying fresh lobster, while at least 10 per cent would be buying special poultry such as duck, goose, quail or poussin in preference to turkey.

Even among those remaining faithful to turkey, fastest sales are for convenient turkey joints such as crowns and saddles, rather than whole birds.

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