If Boxing Day is king, then Black Friday is the young upstart looking to usurp its crown.
At least, that’s the case at Kitchener’s Fairview Park Mall, where marketing manager Leah Landriault says shoppers are increasingly considering the day after American Thanksgiving to be the start of the holiday shopping season – and retailers are finding ways to meet that demand.
“You won’t find the lineups and people scaling over each other, but the offers are still here in Canada to be had,” she said Wednesday, noting that some of the mall’s stores are offering as much as 70 per cent off the normal price of certain items.
At Le Salon, owner Angie Deleo said her shop is well stocked and ready to offer consumers big savings come Friday.
She also expects “a frenzy of people” moving through the mall, and is glad to see consumers stay in Canada rather than head to the United States in search of the best deal.
“We keep jobs here – keep us busy,” she said.
But not everyone is waiting for Black Friday deals to pound the pavement at Fairview Park.
Susan McLaren-Glass made the trip from Atwood to finish off her Christmas shopping – something she normally has done by now – and the promise of bargains wasn’t enough to get her to put it off for two more days.
“It’s going to be a zoo,” she said.
