Red Friday in Canada similar to Black Friday US

[iamdman]

The Brick is trying to get Canadian Retailers to make a day for crazy store sales just like Black Friday. Yes we do have boxing day but that occurs after Christmas.

The Brick wants to make the day Nov. 28th. See below.

Edmonton, September 18, 2008 – The Brick is urging all Canadian retailers to come together and offer Canadian shoppers an extravaganza that makes shopping at home for the holidays an experience worth waiting for! The Brick President and CEO, Kim Yost, has declared Friday, November 28, 2008 the official launch date for ‘Operation Red Friday’ – Canada’s answer to the United State’s Black Friday. Read more details (http://www.thebrick.com/Application/Staticfiles/BrickRebate/Operation%20Red%20Friday.pdf?SiteCode=EN)...

[asmielia]

That's pretty funny, considering it's called Black Friday cause it's supposedly the day retailers go out of the red and into the black for the year.

So the Brick wants to stay in the red then?

[tiburonguy]

That's pretty funny, considering it's called Black Friday cause it's supposedly the day retailers go out of the red and into the black for the year.

So the Brick wants to stay in the red then?

At least they are trying stop being a negative Nancy!

[CSK'sMom]

I think they are just scared. Cross border shopping numbers have gone through the roof the last few years and there are more and more Canadians making the trip for Black Friday. Frankly, unless they can get every major retailer to participate and have the same quality of deals and doorcrashers as the US it's never going to get off the ground IMO. Our Boxing Day deals don't even come close to the Black Fridays deals from our experiences over the last several years....

[StoneColdWhat]

I thought black friday was in Oct..

[Rehan]

That's pretty funny, considering it's called Black Friday cause it's supposedly the day retailers go out of the red and into the black for the year.

So the Brick wants to stay in the red then? You're surprised that a guy named Kim came up with an unconventional idea? :cheesygri

[spazzamatic]

this is gonna fuel the canadian economy =)

[DarcyC]

That's pretty funny, considering it's called Black Friday cause it's supposedly the day retailers go out of the red and into the black for the year.

So the Brick wants to stay in the red then?

Retailers go into the black, but consumers fall further into the red - "Don't pay until 2010!!!" At least they are focusing on the bottom line for the consumer this time! More debt! :lol:

[hp]

That's pretty funny, considering it's called Black Friday cause it's supposedly the day retailers go out of the red and into the black for the year.

So the Brick wants to stay in the red then?

Maybe the Red is meant to symbolize Canada.

This is by far the best idea that has came out of Brick. If only all the big stores will sign up for this.

hp

[mannyb]

Cross border shopping numbers have gone through the roof the last few years and there are more and more Canadians making the trip for Black Friday.I wonder how many Canadians will shop in the states for Black Fri given our dollar is now worth USD $0.84?

[CSK'sMom]

I wonder how many Canadians will shop in the states for Black Fri given our dollar is now worth USD $0.84?

There will still be lots of Canadians, just as there always have been. It will probably just mean that many of the inexperienced US shoppers will stay home the same as they did when the dollar was low before. For many of us it really doesn't matter what the dollar does, we know where the deals are. ;)

[sillysimms]

I thought black friday was in Oct..

It's the Friday after U.S. Thanksgiving and in the U.S., Thanksgiving is in November.

[mannyb]

There will still be lots of Canadians, just as there always have been. It will probably just mean that many of the inexperienced US shoppers will stay home the same as they did when the dollar was low before. For many of us it really doesn't matter what the dollar does, we know where the deals are. ;)However, if our dollar remains around where it is now, the number of CAD shoppers to the states "will" decrease. To what extent, I don't know but it will be down.

[sovexxed]

BF is Nov. 28..the day of the U.S. Thanksgiving.
I personally will be going. As CSK'sMom said...doesn't matter what the dollar value is at...we know where the deals are. Obviously a little bit of math is involved in figuring out if the deal is worth it or not. I also like the fact that some of the clothes you buy there, you can't get here. Nice to have a few outfits that someone else in the office has :cheesygri

[Impossibles]

That's pretty funny, considering it's called Black Friday cause it's supposedly the day retailers go out of the red and into the black for the year.

So the Brick wants to stay in the red then?

All retailers go out of the black on the same day? Ummm sure...

Its the start of the holiday season.

[CSK'sMom]

However, if our dollar remains around where it is now, the number of CAD shoppers to the states "will" decrease. To what extent, I don't know but it will be down.

Well it sure isn't happening yet, even with this latest tumble of dollar. We were over last night and the parking lots at Target and the Outlet Mall were absolutely packed. I would venture to say with a good 80% Canadian plates. The same thing at Wegman's. It was us Canadians with full carts and the Americans were buying only what they absolutely needed. All the years (30+) we've been regularly cross border shopping we've never seen anything like this phenomenon that is currently happening in the US. The thing you have to remember is that with the financial crisis in the US retailers are tending to be reactive. They are actively lowering prices trying desperately to get people to spend money. I am expecting another round of price lowering in reaction to the consumer spending number (down 1.2%) that came out the other day...

[Narci]

I wonder how many Canadians will shop in the states for Black Fri given our dollar is now worth USD $0.84?

Just because it's worth $0.84 cents now, doesn't mean people didn't exchanged alot of CAD to USD when it was above par.

As to shopping in the US...here's an examples shopping at costco in the US:

Heys 26 inch luggage at The Bay was soemthing like $110. Heys 30 inch luggage was like $130.

Costco in the US: Both for $119 USD.

[justamy]

speaking of of the niagara outlet mall & black friday, i was just on their site and they are opening for midnight on black friday :D

[CSK'sMom]

They did last year as well. We didn't bother and got there after everywhere else as there weren't any real doorcrashers at midnight. Most of the folks we talked to who did got between midnight and 5 am said they wouldn't do it again when they saw we got the same deals as they did. ;)

[justamy]

They did last year as well. We didn't bother and got there after everywhere else as there weren't any real doorcrashers at midnight. Most of the folks we talked to who did got between midnight and 5 am said they wouldn't do it again when they saw we got the same deals as they did. ;)

so it's not worth getting there for midnight? do you know if it's super packed at midnight?? i've never done buffalo on black friday before, only detroit, so i'm used to getting to a meijers at 3am and doing my shopping and then hitting target, walmart etc and then the malls.... i was thinking of doing the outlet mall, the target etc & finally walden galleria later...is that not a good plan of attack?

thanks in advance for the help :cheesygri

[CSK'sMom]

This year it's so hard to tell what's going to happen till ads start leaking and the final ads are out. Last year I don't think it was worth going, this year it may very well be different though, wait till the ads come out would be my advice. Last year we started at Walmart, then Kmart, then Target, the Outlet and then we headed to Summit to Steve and Barry's and then up to a few more malls further up Niagara Falls Blvd. We've never felt the need to hit the Walden on BF but we may have to this year unfortunately. Our oldest in a culinary student and is a Williams Sonoma junkie. :-0

We plan our shopping out by the ads and what we want, we're kind of anal that way, LOL! :cheesygri

[justamy]

This year it's so hard to tell what's going to happen till ads start leaking and the final ads are out. Last year I don't think it was worth going, this year it may very well be different though, wait till the ads come out would be my advice. Last year we started at Walmart, then Kmart, then Target, the Outlet and then we headed to Summit to Steve and Barry's and then up to a few more malls further up Niagara Falls Blvd. We've never felt the need to hit the Walden on BF but we may have to this year unfortunately. Our oldest in a culinary student and is a Williams Sonoma junkie. :-0

We plan our shopping out by the ads and what we want, we're kind of anal that way, LOL! :cheesygri

we always wait for the ads first to make a list of where our stops are first, but target is pretty much always #1 or #2 so i figure it will most likely be like that again this year with some other big box stores thrown in and a mall or 2, but i figured maybe the outlet mall at midnight first to kind of "kill time" and warm up until what i really want opens lol!

is the outlet ridiculous at midnight? is it one of those cases where i need to be there by like 9pm to get a parking spot??

[CSK'sMom]

From what we heard from friends that were there and from others at other stores after 5am it was absolutely crazy at the Outlet between midnight and 4:30am or so. The thing to remember with the Outlet Mall is that you're limited to the little info they put on their website for BF unless you can make a trip over the week before and talk to cashiers, etc. The ads for places like The Gap or Old Navy won't apply usually, it's buried in the fine print that outlet locations don't participate...

[mannyb]

The CND dollar touched the USD $0.76 in early morning trading. It was USD $0.84 when I last posted. Yes there maybe CAD shoppers over there, but cross border numbers are now confirming a decrease of CAD shoppers heading to the states. CAD retail numbers have also decreased which may prompt many CAD retailers to significantly lower their prices during the upcoming Christmas season. I'm a big Grove City & Erie, PA shopper (go there 4 times a year). However, at our current dollar level when you factor in gas, hotel and the travel time it's not worth it IMO for "my" current shopping needs. Your needs may differ and you may factor it in as a "vacation".

[mannyb]

Well it sure isn't happening yetIt's happening now.

[sovexxed]

I'm still heading there. Just booked the hotel 2 days ago. Most hotels are filling up quickly. All rooms with double beds are gone. Had to take a king. The deals are still amazing for us CDN shoppers. You can't beat a BF sale. Not even if they lower the prices here to attract shoppers to open their wallets. By the way...don't think we'll see that.

Hubby works in retail. At the beginning of this week, they got notice of price increases for some products. It's crazy but retailers will likely increase prices especially on the necessary, every day items as they know consumers still need to buy them.

[brunes]

Er... there is a reason BF is the day tit is, it is because it is on the Thanksgiving long weekend, when everyone is on vacation and has free time for shopping.

If retailers wanted to do the same thing here why wouldn't they do it on the Thanksgiving weekend?

Besides, Canada has boxing day, which the US does not have nearly as insane sales for.

[CSK'sMom]

It's happening now.

Manny, we cross the border at least once a week, usually 2 or 3 times a week. There are still tons of Canadian plates in the usual shopping haunts in the US. There are many of us that have been cross border shopping for many, many year and the exchange rate doesn't really bother us. We know where the deals are to be had no matter the exchange rate. It's the cross border shopping noobs who are scared off by the exchange rate and that isn't necessarily a bad thing. ;) Sure numbers are down, especially compared to last year when our dollar was on par or worth more than the US dollar....

[ES_Revenge]

and the exchange rate doesn't really bother us. We know where the deals are to be had no matter the exchange rate.
Exactly the point I was trying to make in the other thread about where prices will go in the near future.

The case right now though, because of the decline in the dollar and prices not moving as fast, is that the US becomes more expensive--right now an item that costs $1000 in the works out to over $1250 our money, probably more like $1300 when you pay the spread to convert. What was essentially $250+ cheaper a month or two ago, is now the same as (or more expensive than!) the price the same item probably sells for here.

For example, this seems to be the case with laptops I was looking at recently. Prices in the US are numerically lower but with the CDN dollar sliding, those prices are actually higher especially considering the time/money/taxes you have to tack on to buying it in the US.

[mannyb]

Manny, we cross the border at least once a week, usually 2 or 3 times a week.Are you crossing that often just to shop? Perhaps you can pick me up something ;-) I'm not saying that all cross border shopping will stop. However, there's no denying the numbers have dropped significantly even though you're still seeing ON plates in the parking lots. You really need to do the math because many electronic items are actually cheaper on the CAD side now. Shoppers need to know and to focus on items that you either can't get in Canada or that are still cheaper in the states despite the exchange rate....like eating at Ponderosa.

Retail figures for both sides of the border were released this week and they're down on both sides of the border.

[CSK'sMom]

Yes Manny, we cross that often to shop. We pretty much exclusively grocery shop in the US. We also check prices in the US Home Depot for anything we need around the house. I also bought my new range and OTR microwave in the US. Sports equipment is all pretty much bought in the US as well as the kids clothes. So yes, we really do cross that often just to shop. ;)

[LNahid2000]

Even if we did have a "Red Friday" the prices in Canada will never be anything close to those in the US due to lack of competition up here. I'll be in Western New York on November 28th.

[ES_Revenge]

Yes Manny, we cross that often to shop.
Well when you live in a border city, you certainly have to take advantage of the fact ;)

When I lived in a border city (not Niagara Falls though) I shopped tons in the US--usually these things were shipped to an address in the US because there weren't that many stores in the city I lived in.

The other thing was (and I don't know if this applies to Niagara Falls or not) that the border officers literally did not care what value of goods you were bringing back if you lived in the same city on the Canadian side. I never paid tax on duty on anything, at any time. I was only inspected (on the Canadian side) once or twice in probably a hundred trips and even then they saw what I bought and then just said "okay see you". LOL. I think they were only looking for alcohol/tobacco (which I never dared bring across) because I was never over enough time to have any exemption.

Those were the good ol' days though. Now, it seems no matter what amount I tell the ppl at Niagara they pull me over anyway and 9 times out of 10 they don't charge me anything anyway :rolleyes:

[mannyb]

Yes Manny, we cross that often to shop. We pretty much exclusively grocery shop in the US. We also check prices in the US Home Depot for anything we need around the house. I also bought my new range and OTR microwave in the US. Sports equipment is all pretty much bought in the US as well as the kids clothes. So yes, we really do cross that often just to shop. ;)Like someone mentioned, living in Niagara Falls does cut down the travel time significantly. Perhaps you can bring me back some takeout from Smokey Bones or The Cheescake Factory? :cheesygri

[CSK'sMom]

We can cross the border and can be at Wegmans grocery store quicker than we can get to Zehrs here in NF because of the tourist traffic. ES, we routinely buy beer when we do our groceries and for the first time we were pulled over for the beer last week. Mind you between hubby and our 19 yr old (who we buy for ;) ) we had a total of 30 bottles. Even with the $16 taxes/excise it was still way cheaper than buying it here. Our 19 yr old loves his Guiness. :cheesygri We haven't been pulled over to pay taxes on anything in the last 2 years except my range and microwave and even then it was only taxes even though there could have been duty charges on the range. Even last Black Friday with roughly $1500US we were waved through.

[sovexxed]

Brunes...BF is not a holiday. Some companies will give staff the day off or at least a half day off. Everything is open. It is officially the start of the shopping season and thus the sales begin. They don't celebrate boxing day in the U.S. Besides, they do it the right way. Sales before the holiday. Don't know about you but I like to buy my gifts BEFORE Christmas. And obviously, like a true RFD'r, I like a good deal:cheesygri

Mannyb....Cheesecake Factory is coming to Canada. I believe one of the first locations will be Yorkdale Mall. In the mall or area...not sure.

[LNahid2000]

Mannyb....Cheesecake Factory is coming to Canada. I believe one of the first locations will be Yorkdale Mall. In the mall or area...not sure.
Where did you read this? I LOVE this place!

[mannyb]

Where did you read this? I LOVE this place!Under "Opening Soon" on their website, there's no mention of a Canadian location: http://www.cheesecakefactory.com/locations.htm I wonder if they do, will their portions be as ginormous as in the states.

[brunes]

Brunes...BF is not a holiday. Some companies will give staff the day off or at least a half day off. Everything is open. It is officially the start of the shopping season and thus the sales begin. They don't celebrate boxing day in the U.S. Besides, they do it the right way. Sales before the holiday. Don't know about you but I like to buy my gifts BEFORE Christmas. And obviously, like a true RFD'r, I like a good deal:cheesygri

Mannyb....Cheesecake Factory is coming to Canada. I believe one of the first locations will be Yorkdale Mall. In the mall or area...not sure.

No it is not the holiday, it is the day AFTER the holiday.

US Thanksgiving is always on Thursday. Everyone who is not in retail has a 9-5 job takes off the Friday as well, of course. So you have a whole nation of people who traveled home for th elong weekend, had their football and turkey dinner YESTERDAY, and today have nothing to do, what to do but go out and shop?

You can't just construct a shopping holiday, BF evolved for a REASON, it has to do with when in the year it is (close to Christmas) and when in the week it is (a weekday where all stores are open, but almost everyone has taken a vacation day).

[sovexxed]

True. But my point is Red Flag day will not be anything close to this. I will cross the border every year just to do this....

Cheesecake Factory opening - I didn't read this anywhere. I have contacts that told me the company is actively looking for a lease. Not sure if they signed one yet but they are targeting the higher end, more successful areas. Yorkdale was selected. I'm hoping it will happen by next summer.

Their portion sizes are amazing. You need to split it with someone or take home for leftovers. Unfortunately, the first time I went there, I didn't know. I was in Vegas and the hotel didn't have a fridge so the leftovers went to waste.

The location in Buffalo gets pretty busy but it is sooooo good.

[Mrhankey123]

lol

[skylicious]

I really hope this happens over here.

[mannyb]

I really hope this happens over here.What? Black Friday sales in Canada or the opening of a Cheesecake Factory in Canada? ;-)