Black Friday sales in Canada just hype: experts
Posted Nov 23, 2011 7:11 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Canadians will be better served saving their money, instead of taking part in one of the biggest shopping days of the year on the American calendar.
Scores of retailers on this side of the border are jumping on the Black Friday bandwagon as they try to keep consumers closer to home.
It’s become a phenomenon for shopaholics in the United States as people wait outside stores all night to get their hands on the next big bargain early Black Friday morning.
President of the Consumers Association of Canada Bruce Cran calls the move by Canadian businesses a joke.
“What our guys will do is go down to the dungeon and pull out a bunch of junk and put it out on the display and that will be that,” says Cran. “The Americans operate on their normal stock.”
He says Canadians will see through what retailers are trying to do and usually know where their dollar is best spent.
Cran suggests consumers wait until Boxing Day if they’re hoping to find a good deal.
“Either they’re Christmas related stocks or they were brought in and didn’t sell, that should present some opportunities for Canadians,” he says.
Dean of the Gerald Schwartz School of Business, Leo Gallant, says the economics of Black Friday don’t add up.
He believes it’s more about the experience than saving a few dollars.
“My spouse and her mother are avid Black Friday shoppers and they come back with tremendous stories about the experience that I think justify what they believe are bargains,” says Gallant.
He suggests Canadians do their research before heading out to the shopping malls, because a better deal may be just around the corner.
