A woman and daughter looking through the window of The Upholsterer on North Street during late night shopping in Midhurst, Sussex. Photograph by Christopher Ison © 07544044177 chris@christopherison.com www.christopherison.com. SUS-201216-115817001A woman and daughter looking through the window of The Upholsterer on North Street during late night shopping in Midhurst, Sussex. Photograph by Christopher Ison © 07544044177 chris@christopherison.com www.christopherison.com. SUS-201216-115817001
A woman and daughter looking through the window of The Upholsterer on North Street during late night shopping in Midhurst, Sussex. Photograph by Christopher Ison © 07544044177 [email protected] www.christopherison.com. SUS-201216-115817001

‘Great atmosphere’ for late-night shopping in Midhurst and Petworth

Shoppers are being urged to take advantage of the last late-night shopping events in Midhurst and Petworth this evening.

To encourage people to shop locally in the run up to Christmas, most shops have been open until 7pm each Thursday since December 3. Philippa McCullough, from Midhurst Vision, said: “The Thursday late night shopping was organised to give people more time in which to shop, so that they could avoid the busier weekends and also to help businesses who lost weeks of the crucial November period due to lockdown. Although the streets haven’t been crowded, shops do say it has been worthwhile and that each week has been busier than the last. Most participating shops are open until 7pm with a few staying open until 8pm if shoppers are still in town.” Andrew Chiverton, Town Team CIC and owner of The Crafty Pint, said the events were run to extend the shopping period ‘so that people felt safer’. He added: “Understandably not all shops are able to participate but nearly all the shops selling something that could be a gift are.” Petworth town councillor Harsha Desai said the late-night events, and Love from Petworth campaign, contributed to a ‘real surge in local shopping’. She added: “We are really emphasising the shop local [campaign]. People are doing that and the shop keepers say they are pretty busy.” Midhurst town councillor Jeanette Sutton said the late night shopping events are ‘brilliant’. She added: “It means we don’t have a rush just before 5pm to get the last minute shopping done, it can be spread out and help keep the numbers in each shop down over a longer period. People who work all week can have a chance to pop round the shops late on Thursday instead of risking being too crowded over the weekend. There’s always a great atmosphere in the town for late night shopping too.”

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