With last minute shoppers buying gifts and people stocking up with supplies for Christmas dinner, December 23 is expected to be the busiest shopping day of the year in Canada. Global Okanagan checked in with local businesses to see how they have been fairing this holiday season.
The businesses we spoke to say this Christmas season their sales are either up or on par with previous years.
“We are seeing a lot of people passionate about local independent businesses wanting to spend their money locally,” said Alicia Neill who manages Mosaic Books.
Read More: Busiest shopping day of the year in Canada
Shopper Marissa Fox is one of those looking to support local businesses with her Christmas shopping.
“It’s great if you can find a better deal somewhere else, but then what is your downtown going to look like,” said Fox. “It would be terribly boring if they didn’t all exist.”
It’s that kind of attitude that appears – at least anecdotally – to be helping local businesses have a strong holiday season despite competition from online retailers.