Stores packed for Black Friday
Black Friday seen as trigger for Christmas shopping season
Peter borough shoppers: You sure do like to get out and spend, on Black Friday.
From downtown to Lansdowne Place, stores were packed.
Never mind that there’s nearly 2,000 parking spots at Lansdowne Place mall: motorists had to be patient to find a spot Friday afternoon.
Meanwhile the sidewalks were pounded in the downtown by crowds of people looking to get their Christmas shopping done.
At Flavour on George St., Katy Jones, 19, said she got all her Christmas shopping on Friday.
Her friend Lindsay Tessi er ,19, said she’s got half her holiday shopping complete.
“She’s not as good as me,” Jones chided.
Mike Watt, who owns the downtown fashion boutiques Flavour, Plush and SOS, said that when he started out in business 20 years ago, Peter borough shoppers waited until sometime in early December to start Christmas shopping. Not anymore.
“Black Friday is now the trigger for Christmas shopping,” he said.
Terry Guiel, the executive director of the Downtown Business Improvement Area, said Black Friday was busy.
Guiel said more than 100 businesses participated in the DBIA Black Friday promotions, plus there were door-crashers at many stores.
Also, there was no blizzard: the temperature stayed above zero, for the day.
“I think the weather helped,” he said.
At Lansdowne Place, some shoppers got started at the crack of dawn. While the mall opened at 7 a.m., some stores opened at 6 a.m.
Old Navy was open at 6 a.m ., with 50 per cent off every purchase. Victoria Wacker, the general manager there, said her staff was very busy all day.
“I would honestly say it’s busier than Boxing Day,” she said.
At Grady’s shoe store in the mall, manager Kathy Strickwood concurred.
“So many customers are saying it’ s actually busier than Boxing Day in them all, now ,” she said .“But it’ s preChristmas, right? People are looking for deals.”
Many other stores around the city offered deals too, such as Kawartha TV and Stereo.
“Lots of TVs are going out –50- inch ones and 65-inch ones,” said sales manager Shaun Williams.
He said he’ s noticing families buying big-ticket items–a 65- inch TV, say – as the sole gift from Santa for the whole family.
Toward the end of the day at The Patch, downtown, sales person Hal le Mag asia nd manager Lisa M cK a skell said they’d been run off their feet.
The store has new and vintage clothing for women. M cK a skell said people were happy to hit their bargain rack of $5 vintage blouses: staff had to keep restocking it all day.
The magnificent supply of vintage ugly Christmas sweaters was popular, too.
A busy day like that is amazing, McKaskell said.
“The downtown area is so supportive,” she said. “Sales have been great!”