If you’re afraid of crowds, shopping on Boxing Day can be a nightmare. If you love deals, the day is a dream come true and thousands of Montrealers were in that line of thought on Wednesday.
Shoppers flocked to the city’s downtown to get their hands on the hottest deals. Many of them went for gadgets.
Watch below: Tech expert Marc Saltzman on hottest Christmas gift gadgets for 2018
“We had over 200 people in line waiting to get in the store this morning,” said Lambert Boyer, a manager at the downtown Best Buy store.
While for Boyer this Boxing Day has been better than the year before, that wasn’t the case at Berti shoes.
“I think a lot of people took advantage of Black Friday,” said store manager Phil Iachino.
“Boxing Day was always ‘the thing’ cause you had better prices. For some reason, Black Friday was excellent.”
Iachino’s experience is in line with a recent survey conducted by the Retail Council of Canada. A total of 40 per cent of Canadians preferred Black Friday over 36 per cent who favoured Boxing Day.
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In Montreal, several stores still had a lineup outside. Among them is Canada Goose, where shoppers waited for coats at full price.
Paying on credit
Many of the shoppers told Global News they were relying on credit for their purchases.
“It’s easier to return and I can still pay my rent,” said Ryan Hussey.
According to Equifax, consumer debt is climbing in Canada. Canadians collectively owe a whopping $1.864 trillion.
The good news is Quebecers are fairing better than any of the other provinces.
The average debt in the province is $19,243 per person, compared to Alberta which has the highest at $29,132.
Montrealers may be the most financially conservative in the country, but they were still game to line up in the cold to get what they wanted.
Watch below: Here’s a breakdown by province of Canadians in debt who say they need a higher income to stop borrowing
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