‘It’s very grim’: Duty-free shops see sales plummet as travellers shun U.S.
Global News
In the 37 years since Philippe Bachand's family opened up their duty-free store he says he has never seen such a drastic drop in traffic and sales.
Philippe Bachand was in his mid-20s when he helped open his family’s duty-free store an hour south of Montreal.
In the 37 years since, he has never seen such a drastic drop-off in traffic and sales while the Canada-U.S. border was open.
After U.S. President Donald Trump launched his trade war and mused about annexing Canada, revenue began to plummet in lockstep with shrinking traveller volumes.
“January was not too bad. February was starting to slow down, and then March, with the new tariff and all that, my Canadian traffic was down 50 per cent,” said Bachand, 63, whose shop sits in Philipsburg, Que.
“It’s not fun.”
His experience reflects a blow felt by duty-free store owners across the country as Canadian travellers steer clear of the United States amid anger over tariffs, fears about treatment by border guards and demeaning comments from Trump about Canada as a potential “51st state.”
Sales at duty-free stores have fallen between 40 and 50 per cent across the country since late January, with some remote crossings reporting declines of up to 80 per cent, according to the Frontier Duty Free Association.
“It just dropped off the cliff,” said executive director Barbara Barrett, whose association represents 32 stores. “It’s very grim.”
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