{"id":30218,"date":"2022-11-22T17:01:44","date_gmt":"2022-11-22T17:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/cjsnews\/?p=30218"},"modified":"2023-03-11T15:35:36","modified_gmt":"2023-03-11T15:35:36","slug":"last-year-was-a-boom-but-this-year-purse-strings-are-tighter-cardiff-christmas-market-is-feeling-the-pinch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/cjsnews\/last-year-was-a-boom-but-this-year-purse-strings-are-tighter-cardiff-christmas-market-is-feeling-the-pinch\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Last year was a boom, but this year purse strings are tighter\u2019 \u2013 Cardiff Christmas market is feeling the pinch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It’s almost three weeks since the city\u2019s Christmas market opened for business on the Hayes and traders are beginning to count their takings and compare them to previous years\u2019. A number of stall owners say they’re noticing customers are still spending<\/em> in the market, but they are buying less. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah, who produces handmade Welsh gifts, told CJS News that she had made half as much money compared to this time last year. \u201c[It] was a boom year,\u201d she said, \u201cbut this year obviously I think purse strings are a lot tighter because of what\u2019s going on in the economic climate\u201d. She says spending in 2021 rose dramatically after lockdown restrictions were lifted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The owner of Beacons Candles says she has also noticed a difference. Customers are now just purchasing just one candle, whereas before ‘they might\u2019ve bought more’. She’s worried people are being scared away from markets because of increasing costs and not wanting to be seen as extravagant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another stall owner said a predicted ‘World Cup boom’ hasn’t materialized yet and has had the opposite effect, with people spending their money in pubs and bars on St Mary’s Street rather than in the Christmas markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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