Deal hunter’s delight
From clothing to ceramic tile, Black Friday sales can be found in almost any store today
From clothing to ceramic tile, Black Friday sales can be found in almost any store.
Flooring may not be at the top of the list when it comes to Black Friday sales but the pre-Christmas shopping binge invented in the U.S. has many retailers in Cape Breton like Glenn Burton taking advantage of the practice.
For the first time this year Burton is advertising Black Friday sales at his Burton’s Flooring store in Sydney Mines.
From vinyl to laminate and ceramic tile flooring, it’s all for sale at significantly reduced prices.
Burton said there’s been a lot of interest in his Black Friday specials.
“Everybody seems to be doing it,” said Burton, referring to the decision to set some of his products at “ridiculous” prices to see what reaction it gets from customers.
The deals are one-day only, he said, but that hasn’t stopped the calls from interested buyers wanting to know how long the discounted prices will last.
At this time of year many people have already purchased flooring and are now waiting for it to be installed, Burton said.
“We’re trying to keep up with installs, believe it or not. The traffic does slow down for our type of business, yet we’re still extremely busy.”
Introducing Black Friday will be an experiment to see if the interest translates into a boost in sales, he added.
Advertisements have been hyping the sales over the past week on everything from furniture to electronics, jewelry to home décor. Even fabric stores are getting in on the frenzy.
However, as sales have expanded beyond Black Friday into the entire week preceding it and competing interests such as Cyber Monday follow it, the day has lost some of its lustre, said Soundafex owner Stephen Bidart.
His electronics store on Grand Lake Road has been operating for 36 years. Black Friday has been common practice for the past five years, he said.
“In order to compete with this kind of madness we have to go with the flow,” said Bidart, on the reason to hold the sale over several days.
“In the electronics business everything is online and you’re comparing apples with apples because of the model numbers. It’s not like buying a piece of jewelry, which is so subjective with the different types and designs.”
U.S. advertising firms coined the term Cyber Monday for the Monday after the American Thanksgiving holiday to further spur online shopping.
Since it was introduced 10 years ago, it’s now considered the biggest online shopping day of the year.
Bidart said since Cyber Monday’s introduction into the Canadian market it has resulted in shortened lines at Black Friday events.
“We used to have them lined up around the store … but it’s dwindling and spread out more (over a number of days).”
According to a poll of 1,510 people conducted last month by consulting firm, Accenture, the American shopping weekend has established firm roots in Canada.
Mayflower Mall general manager Greg Morrison said it’s due to the dollar that he’s predicting a stronger-than-usual holiday shopping season.
“I think it’s definitely a reason why many people might stay and shop within Cape Breton, and hopefully in particular at our mall, rather than go to the U.S. just due to actual cost,” he said.