SALE FORCE WINS!

THOUSANDS FLOCK TO SHOPS TO BAG BOXING DAY BARGAINS

- By DIANNE BOURNE & CHARLOTTE FISHER

WHILE many were still tucked up in bed on Boxing Day, thousands of others were heading out to prove the early bird catches the worm in the seasonal sales across Greater Manchester.

Shop doors began opening at 7.30am at The Trafford Centre, which saw the biggest crowds and huge queues outside stores.

The frenzy only grew as Boxing Day went on at the vast shopping mall, with the 10,000 spaces in the car parks outside almost all full by lunchtime.

It was a somewhat more subdued start in Manchester city centre, where the doors opened at the Arndale Centre at 8am, and there was a fairly quiet start.

It was beauty store Lush that attracted the biggest crowds in the city centre, as well as at the Trafford Centre, with shoppers eager to get their hands on their Christmas gift sets at half their original price.

The store had so many people waiting outside at the Arndale that staff had to use cordons to keep the queues under control.

Manchester store manager Chloe Dudek said the shop is always popular at this time of year.

She said: “Lush is definitely the busiest store in the Arndale today. 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.