The traditional post-Christmas sale day has returned to some of its usual tunes, after a year of mostly bargain hunting online. Merchants were able to reconnect with their customers in stores, despite health restrictions and a more contagious variant.
Sainte-Catherine Street was busy Sunday morning with many people strolling on Montreal’s main commercial artery. Unlike last year, all businesses could open their doors with, however, a reduced capacity.
At around 10:30 a.m., at least a dozen customers were waiting outside the Best Buy electronic store. In line, Normand Filion had come to pick up his Christmas present, a cell phone.
“I looked on the internet and here they are offering a $ 200 discount. With taxes, that’s a good discount, ”said Mr. Filion, who thought it was his first experience of sales after Christmas.
A little further, Stéphane wanted to find “good deals For a television. He did not hide his fear of going to the store with the current epidemiological situation. But by coming in the morning, he hoped to avoid a heavy traffic.
“We’re not here for long. We already know what we want, we are not here for it shopping “, he said.
In front of the La Baie branch, a line had also formed before the opening. Come to buy the last Christmas presents, Étienne Paquette and Émilie Provost wanted to be allowed the first before too many people showed up.
“We tried to go early to test the waters. Finally, it doesn’t look so bad, there are a few people. We are therefore very happy to be able to have our tradition, ”said Ms. Provost.
“If the streets had been crowded, we might have gone home and shopped on the Internet,” said Mr. Paquette.
Shops were allowed to open earlier than usual, at 10 a.m. Some had nevertheless decided to welcome their first customers of the day for 1 p.m.
The Sports Experts store, for its part, took advantage of the extension of opening hours to help distribute traffic, explained director Cédric Lescarbeault.
It has also mobilized all of its employees so that customers can be served quickly.
“We will be close to 90 to 100 employees this afternoon. It’s really to allow people to spend as little time as possible in the store, ”he said.
Mr. Lescarbeault predicted a busy day that will allow the store to continue the momentum of the past few weeks. “We had a relatively interesting holiday season. The customers were there, ”he said.
In a shoe store in the city center, the manager, who refused to grant an interview, considered the day to be “very unpredictable”, after having experienced a poorer week before Christmas.
Inside the Montreal Trust shopping center, several dozen people lined up to enter the Zara clothing store.
Used to returning to her country of origin Colombia during the holiday season, Claudia Gutierres went for the first time in search of deals on Boxing Day.
“I looked on the web page yesterday, but I’d rather go see things and not shop online. There are less surprises, ”she commented, not saying“ not at all ”worried about going to shops with the appearance of the Omicron variant, since several health measures are in place.
This article was produced with financial support from the Facebook and The Canadian Press News Scholarships.