Watch the video above: Saskatoon shoppers are embracing Black Friday and cashing in on deals at local retailers.
SASKATOON – The American shopping tradition that follows Thanksgiving has crept across the border and this year Black Friday sales in Canada are bigger than ever.
More and more retailers are jumping on the bandwagon as they look to counter the lure of cross border shopping.
“Sears was one of the very first companies in Canada to jump on board and start promoting Black Friday specials, trying to keep consumers here in Canada at home to do their holiday shopping, we feel that’s really important to help stimulate the economy,” said Sears Saskatoon senior sales manager Dustin Norris.
The shopping phenomenon has been growing exponentially north of the border every year.
This year for the first time Future Shop in Saskatoon will open its doors at 6 a.m.
“We expect huge line ups, there’s a lot of buzz and hype, I’ve seen a lot of the deals, there’s advertising out already showing them and we expect line ups probably as early as 3 or 4 a.m.” said general manager Don Hill.
“There’s cross border shopping that we want to be competitive with, to combat that we want to have good deals if not better deals to keep people here,” he said.
As the name suggests, it’s no longer just a one day sale with many stores extending their deals for the entire weekend or even longer.
“We know that people do get busy so we believe it’s important to extend those deals Thursday right through Sunday so that everybody has a chance to take advantage of those deals,” said Norris.
The Black Friday sales have grown so much in Canada over the past few years they’re beginning to rival the Boxing Day sales.
A recent Bank of Montreal survey showed 47 per cent of Canadians plan to take advantage of the bargains, up six per cent from last year.
“I’m taking tomorrow off to do some shopping here in town, I’m excited about it,” said one shopper and she’s not alone.
But the close-to-home deals won’t keep everyone from crossing the border.
“One of the girls at work is going with four friends down to Minot to hit the sales,” said one lady.
“Usually my sister-in-law and all her daughters plan a trip every year to go to the states,” said another.
For those not prepared to brave the crowds, many of the deals are also online on both sides of the border.
Cyber Monday of course follows the weekend sales and people are now being encouraged to adopt Giving Tuesday to rally for a cause or give to charity.
Watch the video below: Melissa Nakhavoly finds out if Saskatonians were out shopping on Black Friday
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