Black Friday crowds smaller in Canada as deals last longer, inflation reins in spending
Global News
Canadians hunting for Black Friday deals did so without facing the usual long lines or crowded shopping malls this year.
Canadians hunting for Black Friday deals did so without facing long lines or crowded shopping malls this year, as an extended period of sales and decades-high inflation weighs on consumers and prompts some to rein in spending.
Retailers have stretched deals over several weeks and offered similar discounts online, taking some of the frenzy out of the holiday shopping event.
Several big box stores in the Greater Toronto Area, such as Best Buy and Walmart, lacked the usual early morning lineups that once epitomized Black Friday.
The Eaton Centre in the heart of Toronto appeared busy around lunchtime, but closer to a typical Friday rather than swarming with the crowds and queues seen in previous years. Few stores appeared to have lines of waiting customers.
A busy stretch of the city’s Queen Street West, which includes H&M, Zara, Aritzia and Aldo stores, similarly didn’t show signs of additional shoppers.
“We’re seeing a dilution of Black Friday as a physical shopping event where you go to the store early in the morning,” retail analyst Bruce Winder said Friday.
“It’s finally sort of hit that tipping point where it’s much less about the day and it’s more about the shopping period.”
The elongation of Black Friday sales has lessened the urgency for consumers to shop on one particular day, said Lisa Hutcheson, managing partner at consulting firm J.C. Williams Group.
