AUSTRALIAN CONSUMERS RUSH POST-CHRISTMAS CLEARANCE SALES.

AsiaPulse News, January, 2002

SYDNEY, Jan 2 Asia Pulse - Having reached their Christmas sales benchmark, Australian retailers continue to enjoy heavy traffic as shoppers take advantage of post-Christmas clearance prices.

Bushfires raging across New South Wales and mid-Summer snow falls in Victoria have not deterred consumers from bargain-hunting, said Australian Retailers' Association national policy director Stan Moore.

"Sales are continuing strongly after they kicked off very well," Mr Moore told AAP.

"Reports back from retailers are that sales are meeting expectations which would indicate that they are up on last year."

Goods were being sold across a range of retail categories, but Mr Moore said the stores with a large variety of merchandise were doing particularly...