DAWSON CREEK -- Black Friday is the busiest shopping day in Canada, but it looks a little bit different this year with retailers concerned about economic uncertainty and the ongoing postal strike.
At Corlane Sporting Goods in Dawson Creek, Black Friday sales have been going on all week. The local support the store continues to see is something co-owner Aaron Mathias is thankful for.
"We have amazing support from the surrounding community of Dawson Creek, the entire Peace Region. Without this customer base we wouldn't be in business," said Mathias.
His business is one of many that have been impacted by the Canada Post strike. At Corlane, 12% of store-wide sales are made online.
"We have to get creative with how we get product to our customers. There are courier services, but some won't allow us to ship ammunition, others won’t allow us to ship firearms. We're kind of in a unique spot," said Mathias.
The store turned to different courier services, which resulted in higher expenses. But Mathias ensures that deliveries are sent out.
According to the Federation of Independent Business, three-quarters of small businesses say that they have been negatively impacted by the work stoppage.
For Canadians who have waited until Black Friday to kick off their holiday shopping, they now have five fewer days between Black Friday which falls on November 29th this year and Christmas Eve. According to a survey by Rakuten - more than 60% of Canadians say they still plan to shop this Black Friday.
The federal government's five-page piece of legislation to enact Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's promised two-month tax break on a range of consumer goods over the holidays passed in the House of Commons late Thursday. As Canadians get closer to the tax break, it raises the question, where should we be spending that extra money?
"People should always be spending locally, whether they're saving money on GST or not. As a general rule; even when you're shopping online you're still paying the GST," shared Stewart Forrest with the Dawson Creek Chamber of Commerce.
However, that doesn’t appear to be a big ask. Peace Region shoppers have been supporting locally for years. Russ, a Black Friday shopper at Corlane says he only does his Black Friday shopping in person because he doesn’t get the same quality of service online, as he does when going in person. In return, he found a deal in the store that saved him $1,300. He says that it’s not all about the money.
"We're all locals. Down the line me shopping here helps the community and then helps myself."
Retailers are now gearing up for Cyber Monday, the second biggest shopping day of the year. The Retail Council of Canada expects the average Canadian to spend $972 this holiday season, with 40% of that spent on Black Friday.
