Christmas is coming and the tills are getting overloaded. NIGEL JARRETT says it's the time of year when shopping centres as well as individual traders battle for custom

IT would be stupid to ignore Cardiff as a prime shopping destination for South Walians, especially at Christmas.

It's a city almost literally on the way up, broadcasting its growing prosperity in a display of concrete and sun-reflecting glass.

But if you live outside Cardiff, getting there and parking your car takes time.

It's the same at The Mall at Cribbs Causeway, enticingly just over the Severn bridges and a shoppers' delight, with acres of free parking space. Trouble is, the whole world wants to go there at Christmas.

Cwmbran is being revolutionised. The new Asda is just the start of a huge redevelopment which is making more and more visitors take notice. It also has free parking - more than ever before.

Newport, pictured, is brilliantly lit up for Christmas, has inducements to shoppers with cars and a characterful indoor market.

All of them are in competition. The damage one does to the other is probably over-estimated, though.

At Cribbs they are philosophical about competition.

"The customer benefits in the long run because they all have a choice," said spokeswoman Sue Boor.

The Mall's virtues - free parking, all shops under one roof, opening from 9am to 9pm, and an anchor store in John Lewis - are all advertised in Wales.

"Cardiff is a great shopping area but if you go there at this time you are likely to be gridlocked," said Ms Boor.

This is likely to remind the promoters of Newport's shopping centre that it has fought a 'war' with Cardiff partly on this basis.

Malcolm Hall, director of the Newport Town Centre Partnership, said a lot of stores were reporting good trade. "Burtons, Dorothy Per-kins, River Island and Marks and Spencer all seem to be doing pretty well," he said.

"Now we have late-night shopping, children carol-singing in Victorian dress, free mince pies and hot chestnuts.

"It depends on what you are selling and what the demand is this time of the year, but a lot of positive things have been done, such as advertising, plus what stores are doing.

He said job losses didn't help, however, and the latest announcement that Consignia will be shedding 30,000 jobs nationwide would affect every town in the country.

"Hopefully, the New Year will bring city status for Newport and with it new investment. We have to be optimistic.

Asda at Cwmbran were reluctant to say much about what trade has been like since the store opened in November but reports suggest they are raking it in.

Gerry Hutchings, head of Cwmbran Shopping, said the town centre now had 3,000 free car spaces.

"My tenants are telling me they are seeing many new faces," he said. "We have had a wide-ranging advertising campaign and I think we are attracting a lot of new customers."

Mr Hutchings said retailing was being influenced by low-cost mortgages, low inflation, and the reluctance of holidaymakers to travel abroad at Christmas after the September 11 atrocities.