Black Friday sales in the U.S. may be losing their shine with Canadian bargain hunters.
Storeowners, border guards, and bargain hunters alike are seeing signs that Black Friday is drawing fewer Canadians southward.
The annual shopping surge sees stores open at midnight, often with long lineups waiting at the door.
But this year, lineups are few and far between, with shoppers reporting that the stores, while busy, aren’t crowded.
“I waited until six this morning to come over, and got everything, and it wasn’t even busy,” said New Brunswicker Tanya Wilcox.
“It was great, it was actually enjoyable this year.”
Angie Nutter, also of New Brunswick, said she’s seen fewer shoppers during this year’s journey south.
“No, I don’t find it was that busy in there,” Nutter said.
“I think now there are so many other days that they put focus on, Black Friday is not as special as it used to be.”
The diminished value of the Canadian dollar could be a factor making a cross-border shopping trip less attractive.
Lineups at the border also weren’t as long as in years past.
Though there was a steady stream of vehicles heading stateside on Friday, there was nothing resembling a backlog on what is traditionally one of the busiest weekends of the year.
“We’ve prepared for it,” said Véronic Horne, of the Canada Border Services Agency.
“We’ve increased our staffing levels for the whole weekend, but at the same time there will be border wait times.”
The Canada Border Services Agency says travelers can reduce those wait times by carrying proper identification and by keeping receipts for any goods they buy.
Meanwhile, Canadian merchants along the border hope to see some Black Friday benefits too.
“We see a lot of people from Nova Scotia and P.E.I. that make the trek down,” said Jeff McShane, who runs a chocolate shop in St. Stephen, N.B.
“They stop on the way over or stop on the way back for our stores; they’re looking for their chocolates for Christmas.”
With files from CTV Atlantic's Mike Cameron
