City retailers said Warrnambool streets were abuzz on Friday and across the weekend as lockdown lifted, with shoppers spending up to celebrate.

Council's city growth director Andrew Paton said there was a strong level of activity across the weekend and Warrnambool's daily consumer spend averaged around $2 million.

"Hopefully this recent level of activity bodes well for coming months as we approach the summer season which we know is so important for many our businesses," Mr Paton said.

"The Warrnambool and surrounding communities choosing to support local can make all the difference to our businesses, particularly now when so many businesses have been doing it tough for a long time because of the restrictions in force."

Phinc owner Tracey Togni said the street was buzzing. "It was really busy Friday and busy again on Saturday," she said. "Everyone's happy to be out again."

Ms Togni encouraged shoppers to continue spending locally and said many of the clothing retailers had winter clothing items to move, while spring fashion was arriving in store.

Adairs Victoria area manager Edwina Gluyas said it experienced strong trade as its million dollar revamped store opening co-incided with the end of lockdown.

The new-look Warrnambool store certainly had a great response from customers," Ms Gluyas said. "A combination of excitement around retail re-opening in regional Victoria, and customer eagerness to see the amazing transformation of the store saw both new and current customers flock to the store."

She said it showcased the whole product range meaning customers didn't have to travel out of town and were preferring to shop locally. "This has certainly been the case over the past week with best-selling items being furniture, soft furnishings and home decorative items.

"We're really pleased with the initial customer response and it has been a great insight into the future success of this beautiful store," she said.

Style 105 owner and Style Active by Chloe co-owner Debbie Arnott said a great weekend of trade was reported across the board and it had continued into this week.

"It was really exceptional trade," Ms Arnott said. "It was very good and I think there's a feeling there that people need to support local. That's a strong recurring theme that I've heard in our stores, which is what you get with community and we do have a great community.

"You even look at our vaccination rates. That all comes back to that community spirit. This last lockdown I feel was a lot harder on people, for whatever reason, and I think everyone was happy to be out and about," Ms Arnott said.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: