A truly Black Friday

Every year, thousands of residents from across the border, particularly from Mexicali and its Valley, travel to the Imperial Valley and other nearby communities for their Christmas shopping.

Mexican customers purchase extremely diverse products in local stores, ranging from food, clothing, toys and other merchandise in pursuit of product quality and price.

However, this year, due to the health contingency caused by the coronavirus that has affected our region since last March, the borders have been closed for several months to non-essential crossings.

The partial closure began after an agreement between the governments of Mexico and the United States. According to the authorities, these restrictions will be maintained as long as the infection levels registered at the border area stay at levels other than green within the Mexican government’s evaluation system.

To date, Baja California is at the orange level, but far from graduating to the yellow level, let alone the green one. On the contrary, the state seems more likely to return to the red due to the sudden increase in SARS-CoV-2 cases, especially in Mexicali, which to date accounts half of the active cases in all of Baja California.

Last weekend, restaurants and bars in the state capital were full of customers and were not following health protocols imposed by the state government, which will surely increase the number of cases in two weeks.

Thus, there is not likely to be a miraculous change anytime soon that would allow Mexican shoppers to pass through local border ports of entry. That means businesses in the Imperial Valley, particularly those in Calexico and El Centro, will likely forgo sales levels recorded in previous years while their customers shop on the other side of the fence.

Thousands of workers on the other side of the border have begun to receive the legally mandated Christmas bonus known as aguinaldo. According to Baja California authorities, this year it is expected that around $850 million will be spent by its residents on Christmas shopping, this time at businesses on the Mexican side of the border due to the partial closure.

For years, many businesses in Imperial Valley have received a strong economic boost during Christmas season thanks to the increase in sales. There are even some that rely on holiday sales to carry them through the rest of the year.

Without a doubt, businesses in Mexicali are more than happy because of the significant cash flow that will stay on their side of the border.

Under the circumstances, Black Friday could prove very dark indeed for the Valley, owing to a significant drop in sales that is very likely to continue until the end of the season.

That means those of us not impeded by border restrictions need to be mindful of our purchases this holiday season. By keeping as many of our own dollars local as we can and supporting our businesses in the Valley, we may be able to mitigate, to some extent, the loss of dollars from the other side of the border.

Correcting the record

This week a reader sent an email regarding an error in a recent column regarding the Nov. 3 elections. The column noted there would be three women serving on the El Centro City Council and mistakenly said it would be the first time such was the case.

It turns out three women have served on the council in 2003, when Sedalia Sanders was re-elected and Rosanna Bayon Moore was elected to the council, joining Councilwoman Cheryl Viegas-Walker.

So congratulations again to Martha Cárdenas-Singh and Sylvia Marroquín for their sound victories and for bringing a female majority to the local city council again.