Many shoppers take advantage of Black Friday deals to get their Christmas shopping out of the way. Originally an American tradition, falling the day after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, Black Friday has grown to host some of the biggest deals for Canadians as well. “Through the financial recession of 2008, Canadians were going over to the U.S. to shop, so Canadian retailers started planning Black Friday sales to try to keep them here during that time. That’s how it really started,” said retail analyst Bruce Winder. “We enjoy it because I get a mother-daughter event and I get to buy for all my grandchildren with the help of my daughters, so we take advantage of the Black Friday shopping,” said shopper Doris Reaney. “We always look for bargains in our family just to keep the budget on level.” “Seeing we’re not going to the U.S. anymore to cash in on anything down there, this is really where it’s at,” said Allan Reade, another shopper. And now, Black Friday is no longer just a single Friday. It has grown to encompass the whole month of November, with pre-Black Friday sales leading up to the actual day. “I love the sales. It’s great to come on a Monday or a day where it’s not busy and not on the weekend and not the Black Friday kind of rush stuff,” said shopper Candice Tubby. Shoppers are also turning to online stores to make their purchases, as retailers say the web plays a big part in the pre-Black Friday shopping process and consumer shopping. “You look at our unemployment rate, it’s around 6.9 per cent. Interest rates have come down a bit but there’s still a lot of people with a lot of debt to start. A lot of inflation out there on food and other commodities, so Canadians are a little more cautious of choices this year,” says Winder. Shoppers say savings are more important now than ever. “In today’s economy, we need to stretch our dollars as far as they can go. Especially being a mom of four kids and all headed to university. One, your groceries are so expensive. You want to make your dollar go as far as you can,” said shopper Amanda Welk.
