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Despite the hype some Canadian retailers try to raise for Black Friday, most British Columbians say they just aren’t that interested.
While Black Friday began as an American-only day for deals, known in part for aggressive shoppers trampling each other for steep discounts, sales have begun popping up in Canada over recent years.
“It keeps building momentum every single year … it continues to grow,” said Jim Skinner, manager of London Drugs in Kelowna. “At first it was a little bit the same as Boxing Day, and now it’s almost starting to surpass Boxing Day.”
But many people walking around downtown Kelowna Thursday felt the deals here are just not good enough to get too excited about.
“It’s crazy with the people, and I think the sales really aren’t something that’s so crazy good, not worth it,” said one woman. “I’d rather go on an off day and pay a little more and then you don’t have to be trampled.”
A recent Insights West survey polled 812 British Columbians about Black Friday. Sixty-eight per cent of respondents said they believe Black Friday is mostly hype.
“I don’t like the crowds, I don’t care about it,” another woman said. “No, I go home, I stay at home.”
Sixty-seven per cent of respondents in the poll said they purposely avoid stores on Black Friday because it’s too busy.
“I don’t like shopping when there’s tons of people around, lots of lineups,” one woman said.
The owner of Andre’s Electronics, which will be holding sales all weekend, said there would be big crowds at their stores.
“This weekend will be very busy for customers, there’ll be lots of traffic,” said Andre Blanleil, owner of the electronics store.
While Black Friday deals in the States have dragged Canadians south in the past, the relatively weak Canadian dollar may discourage Canadians from crossing the border to shop.
“I would think it’s probably going to entice people to stay on this side of the border,” Skinner said.
Only six per cent of the respondents in the poll said they would be travelling to the States to shop on Friday.
