Retailers are getting ready for what should be one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year, but much of the spending will occur on the American side of the border.
Maritime retailers are renewing efforts to keep shoppers closer to home in hopes of retaining a portion of the money that flows into the American economy from the region during the Black Friday weekend.
Stacks of ads and inserts have arrived at doorsteps all over the region, announcing Black Friday specials on the Canadian side of the border, a sale period that is no longer confined to a single day, but lasts a week or more in some cases.
Few people know more about retail in New Brunswick than veteran retailer Joe Boyce. He says Black Friday is gradually losing its impact as more travelers do the math.
“Many times I’ve had people come back and say ‘it wasn’t as good a deal as I thought it was, when I add it all up, what I got, what I spent.’ Some of it’s the real deal, so you have to shop sharper,” says Boyce.
Maritime retailers are hoping the large crowds, and hassle that go with them, will help to keep shoppers at home.
“It’s not about getting in there, getting the super deal, getting out, tearing your hair out while you’re doing it,” says shopkeeper Anne McShane. “We’ve always been about the experience.”
Nevertheless, thousands of Maritimers will cross the border in the days to come, filling stores and cash registers in the state of Maine and further into New England on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
