SYDNEY, N.S. — Mavis Susin found herself in an advantageous spot as she took part in a growing phenomenon in the Cape Breton shopping community that began before the sun came up early Thursday morning.
Susin was first in line for the Red Thursday sale at Canadian Tire in Sydney while hundreds joined in behind her at least an hour before the store opened its doors to bargain-hunting Christmas shoppers.
“I was here at five to six but I just got out of my vehicle. The line built up quick,” the Port Morien resident said just minutes before the doors opened.
“Usually I’m not here at all but they have some really good deals for kids this year and so I figured I’d go out and try to help my son who is back in the lineup there.”
Second in line was Selena Wambolt and they both had big-ticket items in mind.
“I’m looking for hoverboards,” the Sydney resident said. “And I know exactly where they are.”
The Thursday sale they were participating in leads into an even bigger one that starts Friday across Cape Breton and North America.
George Karaphillis, dean of the Shannon School of Business at Cape Breton University, figures Black Friday became a big deal in Canada only recently — around 2012 or 2013 — after originating in the United States of America in the early 1980s.
“For them, the official Christmas shopping season starts right after their Thanksgiving holiday,” he said.
“This is when everybody was starting to buy new stuff for Christmas. There was this big football game that happens there on that day and everybody goes out. That’s when they figured this is a good time to start Christmas shopping.”
His theory on Black Friday and the sale prices it offers is that retailers want to move big-ticket items early in the shopping season when customers have the money to buy them.
“They can get rid of some of those items in November and they help with some of that cash flow so they don’t leave everything for December.”
The influence of American-owned big-box stores bringing those sales and that same mentality across the border is likely why this shopping weekend has become such a big deal here in Canada.
As for Cape Breton, Karaphillis is not surprised that Black Friday and other sale days have become so popular here.
“One thing about Cape Bretoner’s is they work hard, they shop hard and they play hard,” he said.
“They like to buy nice stuff. That’s why you see so many new cars on the road. You would think we are a very prosperous part of the country when you look at the cars and people driving. You don’t see many old cars driving around.”
But just because the people of Cape Breton like nice things, that doesn’t mean they don’t also like a nice sale.
“People work hard for their money but they are careful with their money. They do shop around. Cape Bretoners have this culture of checking flyers and checking prices. But they do like to shop, there is no question about that. They work hard and like to have the best of stuff.”
The first two customers in line at Canadian Tire on Thursday morning, and likely others behind them, verified the professor's thoughts on Cape Bretoners and sales.
“They are regular $599 and on for $189,” Susin and Wambolt said in unison regarding the price of the hoverboards that were on their shopping lists.
Both also admitted to checking sales flyers from earlier in the week and even browsing the aisles of the store in advance of the sale so that they knew exactly where to find their big-ticket items when they sale began.
Kathleen Yurchesyn, CEO of the Cape Breton Regional Chamber of Commerce, said it wasn’t that long ago when people would pack up their cars and head south to take advantage of Black Friday sales.
Exchange rates and their emergence of related sales here have likely quelled much of that cross border shopping, but she said it’s still important to consider local with your holiday shopping plans.
“If you are walking into a store and shopping locally and choosing not too shop online you are really helping to put money back into our local economy,” she said.
“Obviously when you shop at a locally owned and operated store it goes even further than that. It’s just something to consider.”
Karaphillis estimates that the Christmas shopping season that includes Black Friday accounts for at least one-third of a retailer's sales for the year.
As such, more lines and more sales are in the works beginning bright and early this morning.
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