Edmonton — Boxing Day 2020 has still been a big day for many shoppers, but it looks a bit different this year. Shoppers lined up outside the Best Buy in South Edmonton Common, but not for the usual reasons. Provincial rules require shops to limit capacity to 15 per cent of fire code capacity. But despite the line, customers said it was a smooth experience. “I actually thought it would be a little bit longer,” said customer Tony Arcouette said. “We’ve waited, oh, hours in line before on Boxing Day, just to take advantage of a deal.” “The actual transaction time or interaction in the store is like... 10, 15 seconds,” said Keith Knorr of Best Buy. The view on Whyte Avenue was a little different. It’s been a tough year for retailers, and Boxing Day foot traffic is at a crawl. Rowena’s clothing store will close its brick and mortar location at the end of the year to focus on online sales. “Usually we have people lined up at the door, we open extra early at 8 a.m., this morning it was dead unfortunately,” said manager Tara Mittelstadt. Some stores on the Avenue are opting out of in person shopping just for the day. Bamboo Ballroom closed on Boxing Day for the first time in its 16-year history, but the owner is making the most of online shopping, adapting by offering special one-day coupon codes on Instagram. Local business are hoping it will be enough to help them stay in the black. With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson.
