Tills fail to ring loudly with slow start to the sales season

IT wasn’t exactly jingle bells all the way at the nation’s cash registers yesterday as retailers reported a slow start to the traditional Christmas sales.

With the competing attractions of meetings at Leopardstown and Limerick cancelled due to the bad weather, store owners might have been forgiven for expecting that bargain hunters would certainly be at the races.

However, the lingering effect of the big chill and poor road conditions meant many shoppers stayed away from the first day of the sales, despite the onset of warmer temperatures and a welcome thaw.