Black Friday

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It’s the busiest shopping day of the year in North America. Black Friday sales attracted over half the Canadian population to spend some cash. The line-ups began outside of some retailers as early as 5:00 am Friday morning.

No matter where you go to do some shopping today it’s obvious it’s Black Friday. It’s been popular in Canada since 2007 when retailers tried to keep shoppers here rather than see them go across the border.

A study by IPG Mediabrands shows that about 6.4 million vacation days were taken today and one point two million Canadians called in sick to go shopping instead of work.

From 30% off to 75% off, it’s likely retailers will find the profit margins are in the black.

Toronto Premium Outlets Marketing Director Leith Bengston says, “sales are phenomenal, from what we’ve heard from our retailers some people are up double or triple digits.”

Toronto Premium Outlets expected about 50 thousand people to shop here today which is about 3 times more than they’d expect on a regular weekday.

A steady stream of shoppers in numbers so large police were hired to direct traffic in Halton Hills. Lineups began before the sun came up even in Niagara on the Lake.

And once the doors opened people were willing to wait their turn for a good deal.

But once shoppers got in, many say it was well worth it.

Tumi is an American store new to Canada. But the store manager Xennie Hinds says it’s worth it for Canadians to spend here rather than cross the border. “The prices will be the same but the Canadian dollar is almost 30% less so they’re actually saving money by shopping in Canada and supporting the local economy.”