With the Canadian dollar going strong, shoppers are crossing into United States to indulge in a shopping spree at the malls despite Canadian retailers trying to win them back by lowering prices and boosting advertising efforts.
Sears Canada and Wal-Mart are among the major retailers who are citing bottom-line pressures from the leap in cross-border shopping, media reports said.
Meanwhile, Canadian Border Services processed an estimated 10,000 shoppers at local international bridges last weekend and issued special alerts listing the “do’s and don’ts” of cross-border buying, hoping to expedite their re-entry to Canada.
“We’ve got quite a frenzy going on. I’m having a hard time finding enough buses to meet the demand,” said Margaret Whittet, whose bus tour company operating out of Cambridge, Ontario, has been offering shopping excursions to Buffalo and beyond for 18 years.
“They want to shop until they drop,” said Whittet, who filled three buses to the Galleria on Saturday, and sold out midweek, three-day trips hitting malls in Pennsylvania and Michigan.
“It has just exploded as the value of the loonie has gone up,” said Fashion Outlets spokeswoman Julie Clark. “We’ve never seen anything like this.”
She predicted Canadians will compose 65 percent of that mall’s customer base over this dual Veterans and Remembrance Day weekend. At the Galleria, the Buffalo area’s largest mall, Canadian accents are filling the corridors as well.
“There’s a significant increase; on weekends 35 to 40 percent of our shoppers are coming from Canada,” general manager James L. Soos said.
“We’ve only seen the numbers build,” Boulevard Mall manager Joe Wahl said. “With the economy in the U.S. feeling a little soft, the Canadians are making up for what our regular shoppers aren’t buying.”
Electronics, apparel and shoes are prime categories where Canadians can save by shopping in the United States, even after tacking on 14 percent federal and provincial duties upon re-entering their country.
