Refusing to let the typical bank holiday weather spoil their coronation plans, the British public are preparing for street parties and family gatherings.
Around £200m will be spent on food and drink this weekend, according to the Center for Retail Research (CRC).
Supermarket chain Lidl said it had sold enough bunting to line the coronation procession route 75 times.
Party items and traditional British dishes are in high demand, with brands offering royal-themed ranges.
Overall, the CRC expects consumers to contribute more than £1.4bn to the UK economy over the long weekend.
Tesco said it was on track to sell 675,000 pork pies and 300,000 pots of clotted cream.
Sales of quiches have skyrocketed across the country – Aldi said it was selling more than 30 every minute and Waitrose said it had seen a 25% rise in the last week.
Scones are also flying off the shelves – at Aldi they are up a whopping 150%, while Tesco was expecting sales of 600,000.
Dozens of products, from pork pies and golden syrup to gin and elderflower cordial, have gone purple and gold or tweaked their branding to show Buckingham Palace, crowns and pennants. Ikea offers a chicken flavored topping sauce on its famous meatballs.
Tesco’s Maheen Piracha said shoppers were in a celebratory mood: “Judging by the early sales, the coronation of King Charles will spark a feel-good factor with plenty of street and house parties.”
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No street party would be complete without a drink – Tesco expected it to sell 180,000 bottles of Pimms and Asda said beer sales were expected to be 25% higher for the three-day weekend.
Sales of flags, bunting and paper plates have also skyrocketed – Asda said sales of Union Jack flags were up 227% and coronation mugs up 135%.
Aside from food and drink, millions are spent on coronation souvenirs and memorabilia. Owners of King Charles Spaniels – as well as other breeds – may be preparing to dress their pooch for the occasion, courtesy of Franky’s Bowtique, a Gateshead company.
Founder Kerry Whitney said she’s been “running around like a headless chicken” over the past fortnight completing more than a thousand orders for crowns, bandanas and bow ties.
“We’re busy on Halloween and Christmas anyway and we didn’t know how popular it was going to be because everyone loved the Queen so much, but it’s just Snowball,” she said.
The CRC predicted £245.91million would be spent on coronation coins, tokens and medallions, celebratory teapots, mugs, cups and other crockery.
Asda said its Coronation cushion and King Charles teapot had proved popular, each selling 3,000. John Lewis said sales of his coronation spoon have been strong.
Halcyon Days holds a royal warrant and makes coronation plaques and souvenirs from its factories in Stoke on Trent and the Midlands.
Managing Director Pamela Harper said demand has been “absolutely exceptional” in recent months.
“The entire royal memorabilia is still very much alive and vibrant. We have the gift market and our international market in London which is driven by international tourists, particularly the Americans, who flock to buy a piece to take home.”
The CRC said the spending of additional foreign tourists could be as much as £323million, with much of that being spent on accommodation, restaurants and shopping in London.
Extended pub opening times over the bank holiday are expected to give the hospitality sector a £104million boost, according to the Center for Economics and Business Research.
“This would drive up spending on any given weekend, but the special occasion of the coronation itself should probably amplify this by providing a special spending spree similar to that of major events like the World Cup,” it said.
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