DORVAL – For William Alemán, cleaning up is all he can do to pass the time.
Christmas is almost here, but he’s still surrounded by trees.
“There’s no snow, so people don’t come as often as last year,” he told Global News.
He does get occasional customers, but the trees are overcrowding his tent in Dorval’s Christmas Village.
Alemán estimates sales are off between 30 and 40 per cent.
“Pretty sure if you go to Lachine, wherever you go, it’s pretty much the same. No snow makes it hard,” he said.
Why? Alemán is blaming the unseasonably warm weather – and he’s not the only one.
Jessica Séguin, who works along Lakeshore Drive, said the activity, the rush and the excitement of the holidays are definitely slower than usual.
“It just doesn’t feel like Christmas,” Séguin told Global News.
Other retailers told Global News that a bad economic climate isn’t helping.
“Our money doesn’t have the same value. To spend $100, people think before they spend,” said Maurice Cousineau, a pub owner.
Nevertheless, Alemán is hoping the cold and snow will arrive just in time for the holidays.
“People aren’t feeling the spirit yet,” he told Global News.
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