If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.
That appears to be the philosophy behind this year’s attempt by local retailers to stem the flow of shoppers streaming south of the border to land bargains during Black Friday sales on Nov. 29.
Richmond Centre, in particular, is taking aim at the annual Friday after U.S. Thanksgiving Day event by holding its own, Canadian-style version.
The idea for the sale was rolled out in some of the company’s properties in Ontario and Manitoba last year where it met with positive results, said Sheila Luft, Richmond Centre’s general manager.
Tracking showed that 69 per cent of those stores taking part posted a sales increase compared to the same time period the year before.
That gave the green light for the sale to go national, which in this region includes Richmond Centre and Downtown Vancouver’s Pacific Centre. In total, 21 properties in the chain Canada-wide will host Black Friday sales.
The term Black Friday as a shopping date got its start back in the 1960s when it referred to the crush of shoppers — and resulting traffic jams — that caused headaches for law enforcement officials.
The more common explanation is that retailers often operated at a financial loss from January through November, and “Black Friday” indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or be “in the black.”
“Canadians want to experience Black Friday and would prefer to experience it in their hometown,” Luft said, referring to Cadillac Fariview’s market research. “They don’t necessarily want to have the hassle of crossing the border.”
As for the frenzy that follows some Black Friday sales in the U.S., Luft said it remains to be seen how customers here react. To help get the wheels turning, the mall will open earlier than normal, at 7 a.m., and the first 100 shoppers reaching the guest services desk will receive a $10 gift card.
The evening prior to sale, special Black Friday sales details from individual stores will be posted on the mall’s website (richmondcentre.com).
So far, the response from retailers has been positive with many approaching mall management earlier this year to see if a Black Friday sale could be a reality.
If results are positive, it may become an annual event, but for now, the busiest day for shopping at Richmond Centre remains Boxing Day (Dec. 26).
Over at Lansdowne Centre a Black Friday sales event is being held over two days — Nov. 29 and 30.
According to Bronwyn Bailey, the mall’s marketing manager, many of the stores will be holding extraordinary specials and offering great deals.
Details of specific offers can be viewed on Landowne Centre’s website (lansdowne-centre.com/black-friday/)
In addition to that list, many of the mall’s large, anchor stores (Target, Toys R Us, Home Outfitters) will be offering Black Friday specials.
“We’re also holding a Black Friday Photo Expo from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday where shoppers can check out the newest and neatest photo gear and learn from the experts; free demonstrations, seminars and product presentations from leading photographic suppliers including Nikon, Canon, Sony, Daymen and more in Kiosk Court,” Bailey said in an email. “There will also be fantastic early bird giveaways, and awesome luck draw prizes.”
Details of that event can be found at: lansdowne-centre.com/black-friday-photo-expo/.
Lansdowne Centre will be open from 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. on Friday, and 9:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. on Saturday.
The new Target store will be open from 7 a.m. – 11p.m. on Black Friday (Nov. 29).
The move is encouraging for shoppers in the Great White North, who are seeing its retailers finally trying to be more competitive, said Lindsay Meredith, professor of marketing at SFU.
“Canadians have to fight back,” he said, adding the danger of continued high prices when there is a cheaper alternative south of the border will continue to shift the spending practises of the middle class who are motivated to find deals wherever they can, due to increasing amounts of debt.
And cross-border shopping is big business.
According to a Bank of Montreal study last year, cross-border shopping accounts for as much as five per cent of total consumer spending in Canada, which amounts to an estimated $20 billion flowing into the tills of U.S. stores.
For those continuing to make purchases at home, Meredith said they are being charged a premium for goods in this country for no good reason other than the desire of retailers to protect their margins.
Case in point was the $7,000 extra that buyers of Porsche sport cars were being asked to pay for vehicles in the Canadian marketplace.
“That came off about a year ago, so there was this extra padding of $7,000 in Canada when there didn’t need to be,” Meredith said, adding similar overpricing has filtered down to more daily staples such as dairy products and gasoline.
“And it’s (higher prices) not because we are inefficient,” Meredith said. “Canada is the poster child when it has come to economic recovery.”
But for the tide to turn and keep more Canadian shopping dollars at home, sales strategies such as a Canadian version of Black Friday must hit the attractive price points that make Canadian consumers open their wallets, Meredith said.
But there is one, sure-fire way to save money on Black Friday, and that’s to keep your wallet firmly shut and resist all the marketing bluster of the holiday shopping season.
That’s the aim of Buy Nothing Day in Canada which will also be observed on Nov. 29 as an international day of protest against overconsumption.
It was created by Vancouver artist Ted Dave back in 1992 and was adopted by Adbusters Magazine and has now spread to more than 65 countries.
It has since grown into an international effort to underscore the environmental, ethical and social consequences of consumerism.
According to Resources for Rethinking, an educational resource for teachers, Buy Nothing Day “is an excellent occasion to stop and think about the serious effects that ‘what’ and ‘how much’ we buy are having on the environment and on those living in the developing world where much of what we consume is produced.”
The website notes 20 per cent of the world’s population lives in the developed world and consumes 80 per cent of the Earth’s natural resources.
“In other words, we are consuming far more than our share of the Earth’s wealth while causing a disproportionate amount of environmental damage.
According to United Nations, the average North American consumes 35 times more of the Earth’s resources than a person living in India?
Currently, four to six hectares of land are required to sustain the consumption demands of the average person from a high-consumption country like Canada,” states the Resources for Rethinking website.
