WINNIPEG – After years of watching shoppers and and their Canadian dollars head south of the border, stores in Winnipeg are slashing prices for the traditional kickoff to the U.S. holiday shopping season.
Black Friday deals are everywhere on everything from clothes to jewelry, electronics and even cars.
“There’s more and more retailers on board in our centre and across the city,” said Polo Park Shopping Centre manager Deborah Green, “which is fabulous because we’re keeping that money at home.”
This is the second year Polo Park has hosted a Black Friday shop, with the mall opening its doors at 6 a.m. and stores at 7 a.m.
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“We do know that day that our traffic was up 62 per cent from a year ago,” Green said about Black Friday 2012. “There were lots of people here and a lot of comments from our retailers saying it was their best day ever.”
St. Vital Centre, Kildonan Place and dozens of other chain retailers are opening bright and early Friday to bring customers in, revealing deals just before the event.
And some hope to keep them spending for days.
“We’re going to carry everything into the weekend,” said Future Shop spokesperson Ryan Malzensky. “And follow up with Cyber Monday, which starts Sunday night, and take care of (customers) in-store and online into Monday as well.”
The American version was designed to bring retailers into the black but can also push consumers into the red — especially coupled with Boxing Day sales.
“Having the deal is giving you a way to justify (the purchase),” marketing expert Fang Won told Global News. “Of course it propels impulsive shopping and gives you a large credit card bill.”
But Won said endless bargains can also lead to shopping fatigue, meaning some Canadians won’t buy in.
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