THUNDER BAY - The days of long lines outside of stores in Thunder Bay may be a thing of the past.
Some shoppers set their alarm clocks early Tuesday and made the trek out to the stores to take advantage of Boxing Day deals.
Jacob and Tanner are visiting Thunder Bay from Calgary and have some Christmas money to spend.
“We [are] going skiing so [probably ski stuff],” Jacob said. “Helmet, goggles [and] some ski pants. So probably Sportchek [will have the best deals].”
Tanner has his eyes on NHL 24 for the PlayStation 5 while at Intercity Shopping Centre.
Tracy couldn’t help but notice how quiet the mall was in the morning.
“I get to go look at all the stores [and] take my time, [it’s] not as busy as last year,” she added. “I think [the deals are] going to be good. They'll be on for the week so if I miss it [today], I'll come back tomorrow.”
General Manager of the Power Centre Dave Radford stated that his staff is ready for shoppers.
“[On] Boxing Day, definitely big [televisions get sold]. We have lots of television sets, all the way up to ninety-eight inches. [They are] in stock [and] ready to roll out the door,” Radford noted. “The Power Centre got into appliances back quite a few years ago. Lately we [have been selling] a ton of appliances so I would guess dishwashers, laundry pairs and fridges [will also be bought].”
Radford recalls previous Boxing Days where there were long lines, adding “You could only let in [as many as seventy people] at a time, and there were still lineups out the door. I really miss that. I think COVID-19 was the thing that changed all that.”
Radford also believes that extending Boxing Day sales for the remainder of the calendar year has also been a contributing factor to the changing trends in shopping.
The pandemic also gave way to more online shopping, which has also impacted in person shopping.
