Maritimers lined up in front of their favourite retail stores Friday morning to try and cash in on door-crasher deals for Black Friday.
Some Halifax area residents lined up outside of the Bayers Lake Best Buy as early as 3 a.m. Staff gathered inside at 6 a.m.
“I got 40 per cent off at Bath and Body Works," said one excited shopper.
“I bought two TVs for my kids for Christmas,” says another shopper.
Big box stores offered hundreds of dollars off 4K TVs and the hottest kitchen appliances of the season. Many clothing stores slashed their prices by up to 50 per cent off store-wide.
“After 11 long months of hard slogging in a competitive retail sector, this is now the point when retailers hopefully are going to make a profit for the year. So they’re about selling right now,” says Jim Cormier, Atlantic director of the Retail Council of Canada
Many view Black Friday as the unofficial kick off to the holiday season; braving big lines for even bigger deals as Maritimers prepare for the most wonderful time of the year.
"We're seeing more and more people take perhaps a vacation day, heading in with their family or a group of girlfriends, just to take advantage of all the amazing Black Friday offers," says Stephanie Schnare of the Halifax Shopping Centre.
Despite the closure of Sears, the Conference Board of Canada says Canadian retailers are actually having a good year.
“Consumer confidence has surged throughout the year, prompting Canadians to open up their wallets and boosting the performance of most retail sectors," a spokesperson for the Conference Board of Canada said.
But the board also says household debt will weigh on consumers next year.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Suzette Belliveau and Marie Adsett.
