New £150 million shopping centre's having Grand time

Many stores are still getting grips to life at the £150 million centre above New Street station and have been given little time to prepare before being thrust into the Christmas madness.

Grand Central faces a unique challenge with this year being its first Christmas, meaning it has no previous experience to draw upon.

It also attracts different kind of customers, from shoppers who have put aside a whole afternoon to browse around for their presents to those dashing around in the 20 spare minutes between connecting trains, and bosses admit that presents a different kind of challenge.

For retail giant and flagship store John Lewis, it has been a baptism of fire - not that you will find bosses complaining. On opening day it was busier than its branch in Oxford Street, London. There was barely time to pause for breath before Black Friday came along, now the Christmas rush is about to get well and truly under way. It was, as store manager Lisa Williams says, their three peaks - all within their first 100 days.

The store will be open until 10pm through until Christmas to try and get in as many people as possible, while 60 extra staff have been taken on to help it manage during the busy period.

Once Christmas is over it will then be straight into the sales on December 27, where prices I'll be slashed by as much as half price. While queueing of some sort is unavoidable when Christmas shopping, retail bosses are tasked with doing all they can to ensure everyone is kept happy and are not waiting too long. Making sure the store is adequately stocked is also a challenge.

Ms Williams said: "It is a first for Birmingham so it is a bit of guesswork, there is a little of reacting at the moment if I'm honest. We have been asked for things we don't stock, next year we can plan our stock levels in response to what Birmingham customers are looking for.

"Being at a train station there is a lot of impulse buying. We need to make sure the place is as good as it can be and ticketing is displayed really clearly, so people can say 'great, £8, I can have that. We need to make sure customer service is better than anywhere else.

"Clearly the first day of sales on the 27th is going to be massive for us. It will be great to see Birmingham react to that.

More than four million people have been through the doors of Grand Central since it opened in October and another three million are expected before the year is out.

Grand Central centre manager Jonathan Cheetham agrees keeping shoppers happy could be the biggest test.

"The challenging thing is maintaining the level of service we want to have in Grand Central. People want to come and enjoy being here and be treated well by retailers. This is the first point of entry and last point of exit for many of them," he said.

At the Foyles book store, the Christmas period is arguably more crucial than anywhere else. While the store has a dream location within the centre next to John Lewis, it may prove to be a double-edged sword over the festive period.

John Lewis will be closed on Boxing Day - traditionally the start of the sales rush - and will begin offering its cut-price deals on the 27th instead. It is a decision that has Foyles store general manager Steven Harmon a little worried.

He said: "It is one of the days when we take the bulk of our money. A lot of vouchers also get spent on Boxing Day. It may have a negative effect on footfall. At this time of year we probably make 80 per cent of our money, it is an easy gift to buy somebody."

Mr Harmon admits it is not a stellar year for autobiographies - always big Christmas sellers - but titles from the likes of Danny Dyer, Elvis Costello and Sue Perkins will still be on many Christmas lists and this is the time bookshops become busier than ever.

He said: "For us it is the sheer volume, it's a good Christmas gift and we're expecting big Christmas - were seeing that response from Birmingham at the moment."

It isn't just the retailers who have got to worry about keeping everybody happy and having enough to go around. It is a similar story at Grand Central's in-demand restaurants. With late-night shopping on offer, it also means the food keeps on being served too.

For Joel Stevens, manager of Carluccio's, the main problem is trying to get everyone in.

He said: "We have been busy since we opened. A lot of people knew the Carluccio's brand and with the Christmas market open late and the retail outlets open late it extends custom where it would normally drop off. The challenge is getting all these people in but they don't have to queue for long, it's normally just a 10 or 15 minute wait, or better.

"But we're always fully prepared for anything. We have a strong team and we're expecting it to be as busy as possible."

Vietnamese food counter Pho has had to call on more staff to ensure the business keeps ticking over in the face of unprecedented demand. It has been a whirlwind few weeks since Grand Central opened as part of the redevelopment of New Street station.

Openings manager Gavin Curtis said: "The area has been very busy. We have been lucky, most days we have been very busy. We are trying to get as many people served as possible - we want them to come back. We have had to call on support from (branches in) Manchester and London to help out back so the guys out front can keep serving."

Though they feature hugely experienced workers, these are still fledgling stores with many staff still early in their careers. Centre manager Mr Cheetham says lessons learned from the first Christmas will be a big help for next year.

He said: "Every day is a new day. We have never had a reflection on the year before, all the businesses are new. But one thing I am absolutely certain of is there is a huge affection for Granf Central and the businesses. I hear accents from around the country and around the world on that mall."