First in the queue, from left, Claire Edwards, Debbie Griffiths, Natasha Griffiths and Hannah La'Course
Sales fever gripped a Wrexham shopping centre as more than 2,000 people queued through the night ready for the Boxing Day sale at Next
Bargain hunters started arriving at Eagles Meadow at 3am and by the time the store opened three hours later the early bird shoppers snaked from the store’s main entrance right around the centre.
Kevin Critchley, manager of Eagles Meadow, said the number of shoppers who queued through the night was an all-time record for the centre.
First in line for the Next sale were Claire Edwards, Debbie Griffiths,Natasha Griffiths and Hannah La’Course, from Wrexham, who arrived at 3am.
Debbie said: “It’s mental but we need to be in there the minute they open.I’m heading straight for Children’s Wear, we all are to be honest.
“It’s definitely worth being here as early as you can and you need to be at the front of the queue to get the best bargains. I’m here every year and this is the longest queue I’ve seen.”
Hannah La’Course agreed: “People might think it’s crazy but you can get allthe children’s clothes you need for a year and at real bargain prices. It’s definitely worth it.”
Once Next staff opened the doors at 6am for safety reasons, shoppers wereallowed in at a staggered rate to prevent overcrowding and a crush forming.
By 7am one of the first to emerge with bulging carrier bags, their sales shopping complete, were husband and wife, Sharon and Karl Tye, of Wrexham.
Karl said: “We have been getting piles of clothes for our younger children,we have four, two boys aged 17 and 14 and two girls aged 11 and four. We got here early, about 4.45am and the queue was massive then.
“Hopefully we have enough clothes for the kids to wear for the year and a treally cheap prices. We also managed to get a few things for the house too.”
Sharon said: “Divide and conquer is our game plan, I went downstairs and Karl upstairs, that way you don’t miss out. It’s the only way. We saved up as much as we could ready for the Sale to begin. It was really worth it and I’m very happy.”