industries

Black Friday in Canada

Tired of losing customers across the border, Canadian big-box and local stores are responding with more Black Friday and Cyber Monday events of their own. It’s turkey time down south. But while our American neighbours practise age-old customs like devouring yams and Peanuts holiday specials, Canadians are indulging in a relatively new one — crossing the border to take part in the annual U.S. shopping bonanza called Black Friday.

By Matt Currie /

Black Friday North | BCBusiness
More national and B.C. retailers are partaking in Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales to try to plug the leak of Canadian shoppers across the border.

Tired of losing customers across the border, Canadian big-box and local stores are responding with more Black Friday and Cyber Monday events of their own.


It’s turkey time down south. But while our American neighbours practise age-old customs like devouring yams and Peanuts holiday specials, Canadians are indulging in a relatively new one — crossing the border to take part in the annual U.S. shopping bonanza called Black Friday.

Shops in the States look more appealing than ever to B.C. bargain hunters, armed as they are with a strong dollar and new duty-free exemptions that increase the value of goods visiting Canucks can stuff into their suitcases (from $400 to $800 on two- to seven-day trips).

A Bank of Montreal study from earlier this year estimates the phenomenon of cross-border shopping is costing Canada $20 billion annually. But Canadian stores are keen to put a dent in that number. In 2012, practically every major retailer in the country has hopped on the Black Friday bandwagon, peppering the public with TV and radio ads assuring us we need not endure a lengthy car trip to sniff out the best deals. And indeed, it looks like Black Friday North may have finally grown to the point where shoppers will have real incentive to stick close to home.

In 2009, Future Shop’s first stab at a Black Friday-esque event was nothing more than a one-day word-of-mouth VIP sale at select locations. Today they’re rolling out a nationwide Friday through Sunday deal-a-thon at each of their 149 stores, all of which are opening early.

“We’ve seen year over year growth, [so] we’re pulling out all the stops this year,” says Future Shop Communications Manager Elliott Chun. “We’ve got the prices well matched to be competitive to some of the deals you might find [in America] and customers are second-guessing, ‘Do I want to deal with all the fanfare, distance and extra cost that comes associated with a trip to the States?’”

At the other end of the spectrum, B.C. department chain Army & Navy is only now starting to embrace the spirit of this burgeoning shopper’s holiday by ratcheting up existing seasonal deals and incorporating the term “Black Friday” into their advertisements.

“It’s really been the last couple of years that [this phenomenon] has been progressing in Canada,” said COO Ray Shoolman. “We felt the time was right to get involved and let the market know that Army & Navy are promoting having customers stay in Canada.”

Also more prominent than ever on this side of the 49th is the traditional digital finale to America’s Black Friday weekend — Cyber Monday — where the bargains move from the brick-and-mortar stores to the Internet.

“It wasn’t until 2009 where we noticed a spike in our own web traffic on Cyber Monday,” Chun says, “[even though] there was nothing going on in terms of a sale. Because of that spike, in 2010 we took a chance. And this year will be our third Cyber Monday sale [with] the biggest and most amount of sale items we’ve had.”

A plethora of other companies, including The Brick, Indigo and Sears, are also trumpeting in-store and online savings aplenty. However, a recent CIBC poll showed around one in 10 Canadians partake in some cross-border bargain hunting the weekend after American Thanksgiving — and that’s a lot of minds to change.

“I’m not naïve enough to think that it’s going to be enough,” Shoolman said. “If you open the papers today, you see a lot of Black Friday ads — you hope that some of it rubs off to the consumer. [But] some people are just going to go [to the States] anyway because they want the excitement of it. But the move of Canadian retailers to get involved, I think is a positive thing.”

Moreover, though the battle has only just begun, so far the outlook from the front lines is fairly promising for the locals.

“When people are looking in, they’re responding quite well, actually,” offers the assistant manager of one Vancouver shop. “This is our first year; next year, we’ll [look back on] these days, and see if it was worth it, I guess. But it looks like it’s doing very good right now.”