Cardiff is bustling with shoppers during the last weekend of Christmas, with cars queueing to park and swarms of people walking through the streets. On the face of it at least it looks like a bumper day of sales, a good day at the tills. But does that tell the whole story?
The forecasts have not been encouraging. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that retail sales volumes dropped by 0.4% last month, a much weaker result than expected.
Major retailers have also indicated that sales have been down, blaming the rising cost of living. Rail strikes have driven fears of a knock-on effect to footfall in town and city centres. Even the weather has done its best to keep shoppers away.
And all this on the back of two years where a global pandemic decimated business.
In the Welsh capital the Christmas Market on The Hayes has been a focal point for Christmas shopping for three decades.
This year it has been open since November and will close on Friday, December 23. A home to a variety of small businesses, supplying different and special homemade crafts and items, some made out of wool, glass, wood, metal, ceramic and many more.
James Barker, 47, co-owner of Ye Green Men, started his business nine years ago and has been participating in Cardiff's Christmas market for the last six. They sell bespoke items made out of fused glass. He said: "Trade wise, it has been a little bit more down than last year, but not down enough for me to worry about it."
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He added: "It's always been a good market and you can see that from all the traders that come back - it's one of the best Christmas markets around. The organisers are amazing, they know what they have and don't put similar businesses next to each other and take time to spread it out. So when people come to the market they can have a walk around and have a real experience.
"I can't complain, it has been busy. Some days are busier than others and the weekends are obviously much busier. A couple of weekends ago we had Small Businesses Saturday and it was one of the best weekends we have ever had at this market. People are still coming out and still seeing what's around. What I've noticed is that people aren't making impulsive purchases, they're coming around and you'll see the same faces once or twice looking around the market, and then they come back to buy - they're making a conscientious choice.
"The one good thing about this market is there are things for all budgets. You can buy an amazing piece of art from one of my talented friends for like £900, but you can also buy a Christmas decoration or something with your enitial on for £5 - there's something for everybody and I think that's one of the reasons this market is so good."
Mark Lewis, owner of Landscape and Wildlife Photography, sells his framed prints, coasters and other items at the market. He said that business "has been reasonably ok." He added: "With the cost of living crises and everything, things have still been going alright. I think over the last few days the train strikes have impacted us as fewer people are around - it doesn't feel like the almost last Saturday before Christmas today."
Jewellery maker Mike Cole, owner of Tangled Web Jewellery, has been in business for 27 years and this is his 26th consecuative stall in Cardiff's Christmas Market. He said: "Business had been good and steady. It's a long show so having it steady throughout the six weeks is better than having it packed in over the last 12 days. There's lots of people out and about - it was quite at the start of the week, but that's down to weather. I haven't noticed a big difference [in trade] from last year and everybody has been happy. "
Mike also added that the train strike and delays affected business on Thursday and Friday, but noted there was not much differenct to normal Saturday trade today.
Sandra Davies, said her daughter has been selling her crafts in the market for the last 10 years. Sian Davies Ceramics saw a steady flow of customers during the last weekend before Christmas, but Sandra said that last year had been busier than this year. However, they have still sold a lot of items this Christmas, with only the last of the dispaly stock now available. She added: "Customers buy a lot of the small items, but we've had a good take this year."
Julia Millington, owner of Welsh Coast Pebble Craft, has had her stall at the Cardiff Christmas Market for the last seven years. She said that her trade has remained steady, but is quiter than last year which she believes is down to bad weather and impact of the train strikes. She said: "Last year was a very good year after coming out of Covid. I found trade to be normal this year, but that might be because my work is sentimental," as she sells pebbles in picture frames representing life milestones and events.
Javier De Francesco, 44, owner of Il Giardino D'Indiprete, has travelled from Spain - every Christmas for the last 12 years - to be a part of Cardiff's Christmas Market. He sells hand made sculptures and crafts made out of metal and wood. He said: "I've been a welder all my life and do markets all over Spain and here in the UK - this is the only market I do here in the UK. Before it was really good but after Covid and the lockdown it started going down, and this year has been the worse, at least for me.
"It's still ok, but I have to spend a lot of money to be here and pay taxes for all the stock. Before I could just drive with my van through the border, now it's a lot of complicated paperwork to bring all the stock here. Sales haven't been good this year - it's really weird because November was really good - better than last year - so i was expecting to have a great December. But December has been really bad - I'm talking half of what I was making last year."
Javier said that he has managed to sell some of his bigger items that cost around £200 and his smaller items, which are £5, are the most popular. He said that he is going to come back next year to "try again and see" as there had been an economical strain, but added "it's not worth coming here, sleeping in the caravan for two months and standing in the cold" if he can't make enough money.
Javier isn't the only trader finding it difficult to keep his business in Cardiff open. Gary Blackburn, owner of Tropigoz based in the Castle Arcade has made the difficult decision to shut his house plant shop by the end of December.
He said: "I started it in 2020 in The Castle Emporium and moved over here last Christmas. Trade last Christmas was pretty good but this Christmas has been very poor - about 60% less than last year - so I'll be closing down in January." Gary said that it's hard to pin point any cause in particular but says that the "saturation of house plants at the moment, more competion in the city and the cost of living" has had a huge impact on his business, as people are spending less generally and can't afford to put their heating on for themselves, let alone plants. He added: "It's been a tough time this year."
Gary said that the arcade is "still quite busy" but a lot quieter than the centre of town. He said: "I had a quiet November and I thought December would turn it around, but it hasn't happened this year. I had a really good year last year coming out of lockdown as house plants were a big thing and han't reach saturation yet - people were working from home and had time to care for them. Other than that December it never returend to what I was before, despite being somewhere more promemant."
Gary has his last bit of stock in the shop which will be available for customers to buy until he closes his doors for good in January.
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