Now that the turkey has been well digested, the presents have been unwrapped, party-goers are over their hangovers and New Year resolutions have been made (and even broken), the January sales are next on the list of people’s priorities.

Yesterday morning, the Maltese took to the streets of the commercial centres, hunting for the things they saw during their Christmas shopping but decided to wait and buy in the sales. The most popular merchandise on sale was clothing and footwear.

One of the most amusing sights in yesterday’s shopping spree was husbands keeping up with the voracious shopping appetites of their wives. They could be seen outside shops, watching their wives’ bargaining and waiting for them to finish picking over the goods.

There were mixed reactions among shoppers, with some saying they had got really good bargains. A group of teenage girls said they were thrilled at finding clothes they saw at full price the day before yesterday now reduced by up to 50 per cent. They said that, unlike last year, most of the discounted items they saw on sale were of good quality and were on sale during the pre-Christmas shopping period.

One girl said she was really surprised that items on sale were not the usual things that have long been gathering dust in the store room and had been put back on sale (probably not for the first time) for the unsuspecting customer to think they have scored a bargain.

An older woman – a more seasoned shopper – said she was not that impressed, but admitted that she had not explored all the shops. A Valletta shop-owner told this newspaper that it is still too early to judge whether the sales season is a good one or a bad one.

“This year’s winter sales are expected to be different because of Saturday’s Notte Magica, which is expected to attract thousands of Maltese to the city,” he said, adding that this year’s peculiar weather had postponed the typical winter merchandise sales, “so customers are buying their winter goodies now.”