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  1. Boxing Day

    A look into the madness of one of the year's busiest shopping days with the biggest sales.

    2. #1
    Duke-of-Waterloo
    12-26-2010 09:58 PM
  2. From Williamsburg | Member Since Feb 2010 | 92 Posts
    #2
    12-26-2010 10:28 PM
    Looks like people weren't scared away from Fairview, that is good to see. I only went to Conestoga this afternoon, the only line I saw was for GameStop.
    I heard the Hollister at Fairview had over an hour long line this morning, looks like it was a success.

    Fairview even had a celebrity shopper show up http://www.therecord.com/news/local/...y-in-kitchener could be good or bad publicity for the mall depending on how you look at it...
  3. FancyNancy's Avatar
    From Waterloo | Member Since Dec 2009 | 76 Posts
    #3
    12-27-2010 09:18 AM
    We went shopping in Buffalo yesterday and crossed over at Lewiston Bridge around 8:30 am. The wait time was around 15 minutes to cross. I expected a much longer line up. Coming home we crossed over at Erie and the wait time was about the same. Shopping at Walden Galleria Mall did not seem near as busy as the pictures posted of Fairview or Conestoga Mall. There were hardly any line ups. I mentioned to one of the sales clerks in Macys that it didn't seem very busy for boxing day and she said that it came in spurts.
  4. Spokes's Avatar
    From Kitchener | Member Since Dec 2009 | 4,277 Posts
    #4
    12-27-2010 09:29 AM
    Boxing Day doesn't exist in the states so Im not surprised it wasn't busy. It's not a big shopping day there. Their big shopping day is the day after Thanksgiving in November (Black Friday) which is a much much bigger shopping day than Boxing day.
  5. IEFBR14's Avatar
    From H2OWC | Member Since Mar 2010 | 1,283 Posts
    #5
    12-27-2010 09:58 AM
    Traditionally it's been a big shopping day near the border. Back in the day, the media would report that the vast majority of license plates at Buffalo malls on Dec26 were Canadian. These days with the dollars at par and many Canadian merchants willing to match US prices the "bargoons" are no longer so good, so fewer people follow the ritual.
  6. From Kitchener | Member Since Jan 2010 | 287 Posts
    #6
    12-27-2010 11:12 AM
    Back before Sunday Shopping in Ontario (pre-1992), going to the US was the only "legal" way to do shopping both on Sunday and on Boxing Day.

    In other parts of Canada, it's still illegal for stores to be open on Boxing day (Atlantic Canada & parts of Northern Ontario) - and in those locations Boxing Day shopping occurs on the 27th.

    Boxing Day is classified in under the Canadian Labour Code as an "optional" holiday, with only Ontario making it a statutory holiday where all workers receive time off with pay (or additional pay for working on the holiday).

    I don't see Justin Bieber anywhere... hahaha

    Did you happen to be there at that time?
  7. Member Since Jul 2010 | 1,351 Posts
    #7
    12-27-2010 07:29 PM
    Quote Originally Posted by Shawn
    Back before Sunday Shopping in Ontario (pre-1992), going to the US was the only "legal" way to do shopping both on Sunday and on Boxing Day.
    Those were aweful times. In Europe shopping on Sundays is still mostly a no-no, but they have riverside parks, museums, cycling trails, civic plazas, cafes and other areas where to congregate so one doesn't even miss shopping much. Hard to believe now, but back in the mid 80s Waterlooregion had none of those things in any form worthy of note. Even outdoor patios were rare. Today, if shops were to close on Sunday I would still be upset but at least now we have RIM park and its riverside walk, many cafes to go to, Waterloo Town Square and Kitchener Civc Square, two new museums, and plenty of outdoor patios in the summer.
  8. UrbanWaterloo's Avatar
    From Kitchener-Waterloo | Member Since Dec 2009 | 5,686 Posts
    #8
    12-27-2011 08:02 AM
    Boxing Day 2011

    Future Shop: huge line-up, but went by quickly and was in & out of the store, with purchase, in less than an hour.






    Canada Computers: completely ridiculous. These photos were taken at 10AM, two hours after the store opened at 8. The outside line-up took an hour to get through, as they were only letting 10-15 people in at once as the same number left the store. What makes it even worse is that the outlet wasn't packed inside, with the aisles mostly being empty. The bottleneck was simply the cashier line-up, which extended from the front to the return area at the back. There were only 3 cashiers open, so if they had opened even one more they would have had a lot more happy customers.





  9. Member Since Jan 2011 | 54 Posts
    #9
    12-27-2011 09:56 AM
    I've had quite a bit of success doing Boxing Day shopping online: same prices with no lineups or stress.

    This year, I got everything shipped from the states. Even after shipping and customs, I saved 20% compared to the best prices I could get here, both online and instore.
  10. From Kitchener | Member Since Feb 2010 | 106 Posts
    #10
    12-27-2011 03:05 PM
    It's a shame Canada Computers is so poorly operated. They fill a major demand (especially around here), so there isn't much incentive to change, sadly.
  11. Member Since Dec 2009 | 518 Posts
    #11
    12-29-2011 02:25 AM
    Quote Originally Posted by Osiris
    It's a shame Canada Computers is so poorly operated. They fill a major demand (especially around here), so there isn't much incentive to change, sadly.
    Agree fully. It took way too much time for me to give them $5000 a few months ago. This should not be an operation that involves me waiting around for an hour while they figure out how to accept the money!