AROUND 200 people queued up before Boxing Day sales began at the Broadway Shopping Centre in Bradford.
The Broadway’s general manager Ian Ward said it looked like a busy day was ahead for retailers.
Queues at Primark almost stretched out onto the mall by 10am while shops like JD Sports and Khaadi were also full of customers.
Saturday 'likely to be busier'
Mr Ward said: “When we arrived at eight o’ clock in the morning we weren’t expecting people to be queueing like they were right outside the scheme. There were two or three hundred people waiting to come in this morning.
"From Primark now, the queues are that big they’re potentially queuing out onto the mall which is massive.
“Boxing Day should never really surprise us. When you get in it’s quite clear, even from nine o’ clock in the morning, it’s going to be a very busy day.
“We’ve got Bradford City playing at home this afternoon which will be a packed house.
“We started a lot busier than I expected and it’s just going to grow now as the day goes on.
“It’s only 10.30 in the morning and people are already thinking, what are we having for lunch? It’s already been a long morning.
“It’s quite clear from walking round this morning there’s some pretty good offers out there for people to have. Primark have got 50 per cent off across a lot of the store and understands why the queues are so big.
“There’s some pretty big offers to be had. Tomorrow’s likely to be busier with the weekend on a Saturday. I think we’re going to be in for quite a busy few days.
“Sale for retailers will stay when they’ve got rid of all the sale stock. All the big bargains will be today and into tomorrow, then things will kind of fall as they go into next week.”
'Too mad'
“It’s crazy,” said the Choudry family, who had been shopping in Primark for over an hour.
“Everywhere, the queues are too mad. At one point I was about to put my basket away. I thought, let’s just give it a try.
“About five or six years before we used to come up early in the morning like mad.”
Shabnam Akaash said she had come to do her family’s normal shopping routine at the Broadway.
“We were successful finding everything we wanted to buy,” she said.
“I like shopping and I like to buy the things I need for myself, my husband and my kid.”
James Matus and his partner stopped by the Broadway while walking towards Darley Street Market - one of their favourite spots in the city.
“There’s always queues in Bradford on Boxing Day,” he told the T&A.
“The problem we’ve got is Covid changed everything. Shopping is a dying art.”
Vicki and her daughter, Bella, came into Bradford as she had been given some spending money.
She said the queues had been “awful”.
“I wish I’d have just waited,” she said in the queue at Primark.
“I’m hoping it goes down quickly but we’ll see.”
Vicki said she normally shops online but decided to come down in person today.
She said: “It’s just changed, it just comes to your door and you don’t have to queue.
“A lot of times it’s just cheaper online.”
