Black Friday – Not in Canada EH?

November 29th, 2013

So today is the day when shoppers and retailers in the United States, our awesome neighbours to the south, go bonkers. Yes bonkers. Shoppers chase the ultimate   deal and store clerks just try to “deal” with it. Online retail websites that haven’t taken the time to “beef up” for the additional volume today will soon learn that “crash and burn” is not a good thing to hear from their IT department when the CEO asks how things are going.

In Canada though we are much more civilized. We politely ask consumers to continue to shop locally and as a courtesy, offer some nice sale prices so that they don’t feel left out as compared to their friends in the south. Of course there are some of our loyal Canadian citizens that will politely wait in line at the border crossings for hours so that they can then wait in the store line-ups for even more  hours. They do this just to be neighbourly of course. There are also Canadians that will order products online this Black Friday and have them shipped, but that’s only because they want to help keep their local mail or delivery person employed. We certainly owe all these wonderful consumers a vote of thanks for supporting the global economy.

Now being in the accommodation industry, all of us at Accent Inns are more than pleased to welcome our guests from the south that have decided to avoid the crowds and head north for a little of the peace and tranquility that Canada can offer on such a busy day, busy weekend. Now it is true that we have a few companies from the U.S. with locations in Canada embracing the Canadian way along with some of our great local retailers,  are kind enough to put on some Black Friday look alike  specials. Deep down we know that they are doing this just as a courtesy and sort of a “feel at home” welcome for our U.S. guests.  So if you, the proud Canadian goes shopping today, remember to let folks in line, say thank you to store clerks and continue to show that embedded, over the top, genetic politeness which is the Canadian way 😉

Oh and please, please don’t mention anything to our neighbours about Canadian shopper’s habits around Boxing Day sales. That’s our secret…..lol