We’ve had an amazing three days trade Dec. 26 through Dec. 28. All departments are showing excellent growth over last year but none more so that lotteries. Our sales are up 109% on last year. There is no major difference as there was a superdraw last year as well. Our sales were already good so the 109% increase is fantastic. In the magazine department, over the same three days, Women’s Weeklies are up 27%; Sport up 67% (on the back of Shane Warne coverage); Men’s Titles up 43%; Crafts up 50%; Computers up 47% and Children’s up 79%. Motor titles are down 10% and Buying and Selling down 71%. Newspapers are down 8% in the same period.
We’re putting the growth down to people not going away this year in the numbers of last year. Of course it would be great if the growth is sustained through the year – we’ll have to wait to see if that is the case.