Montrealers line up for hours in the wet snow to snag Black Friday deals

Shoppers brave the cold for Black Friday deals Montreal shoppers lined up in the rain, snow and cold for Black Friday deals.

MONTREAL — Despite rain, snow and cold temperatures, Montreal shoppers were lined up overnight to take advantage of deals for Black Friday.

In Quebec, the average transaction as of 3 p.m. was $109 in the province with 2.6 million transactions logged, according to Moneris, Canada's leading payment provider.

The highest average transaction in Canada was Alberta at $145.

Mass merchandisers led all retail categories with 578,000 transactions, followed by apparel (552,000), household (424,000) and vehicle (130,000).

"Black Friday again this year, will again be the highest spending day this year," said Stephen Turgeon, senior vice-president of sales at Moneris.

The difference from this year to last year, Turgeon said, was in the average bill at the end of purchase.

"If we look at the average transaction by second, this year we're seeing $124 compared to last year, we saw $97 per second," he said.

Next week, Turgeon said Moneris will have a picture of online versus in-person sales.

Shoppers were lined up overnight outside of Centrall MTL, a flagship shoe store on Ste. Catherine St.

"We've been waiting here for over 10 hours, so I really hope its worth it," said one shopper.

"We're just excited to go next finally because we've been waiting since 1 a.m.," said another.