Canadian shoppers sticking close to home despite high loonie

Maria Babbage, THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO - It's a familiar sight in shopping malls across the country - long lineups, exhausted customers weighed down with gift bags, stroller-pushing families sifting through red-tagged bargains to find the perfect present to tuck under the Christmas tree.

Yet despite all the hassles, many Canadians are sticking close to home this year when it comes to last-minute holiday shopping, ignoring the advantages of a high-flying Canadian dollar.

Some say it's the convenience of a quick drive to the mall, while others are making a conscious effort to shop in Canada.

"My family doesn't allow shopping in the States because we have to support the Canadian economy," said Carolyn Fraser, 43, one of hundreds of shoppers bustling through a downtown Toronto mall Sunday with her 15-year-old daughter, Kate Curley, and a friend.

Kendra Thomas, Curley's 16-year-old friend, said her family crosses the border to shop in Buffalo for a weekend about once every three months.

"I know my mom, she's done her (holiday shopping). Has been for awhile," she said. "But I never know what to get them until the last minute."

Savvy shoppers like Erich Fox, 39, who understands the perils of last-minute gift buying, came early to avoid the afternoon rush.

"Just executing the final plan," he said, carrying a pair of skates for his eight-year-old son.

"We had a couple of things we needed today. This is the first chance we had to get out without our kid around."

Retailers across the country have been trying to lure Canadians back after the loonie rose above parity with the U.S. dollar earlier this year.

Several have tried to match American prices, while others are risking a loss by offering big discounts.

But unpredictable weather, long lineups at the border and more convenient gift returns and exchanges are also keeping consumers from straying too far from home, said Derek Nighbor of the Retail Council of Canada.

"People are not wanting to travel on the roads very much and also, people are remembering that, 'If I want to return or exchange something, I think I'd rather do that in my home community than have to travel 20, 30, 50 kilometres away to do that,"' he said.

Canadian retailers are still expected to have a good year, thanks in large part to the strong economy, said retail consultant John Williams of J.C. Williams Group.

"There was a lot of hemming and hawing about whether cross-border shopping and the strength of the Canadian dollar would make a difference. It might have hurt some people, but generally, the retailers have had a very good showing to date."

Edmonton shopping malls were packed with thousands of last-minute shoppers Sunday, where getting out of the parking lots was almost as time-consuming as combing the shops for deals.

Some suppertime television newscasts were featuring helicopter traffic reports to warn shoppers of traffic snarls, especially around the mammoth West Edmonton Mall.

Scott Olsen, 25, a student at the University of Alberta, fingered baseball caps at a shop in another Edmonton mall - searching for the perfect gift for his girlfriend's younger brother.

"Finals ended this week so I was locked up in my apartment studying for finals and then I got the shopping done this week," he said.

Steve Iron - originally from Regina, but working in the oilsands of northern Alberta - was a man on a mission Sunday.

With the help of family members Stephanie and Crystal Bird, Iron was on the prowl for a toy for his three-year-old grandson - something he hadn't been able to find elsewhere.

"I'm looking for, I think it's a Transformer, the beetle, the bumble bee or something like that," he said. "I think everybody wants it."

Elsewhere in Canada, Christmas shoppers seemed to be moving a more leisurely pace.

There were few people on the streets of downtown Halifax.

"I don't think many people are scrambling," Mhari Lamarque, a 17-year-old clerk at the novelty candy store Freak Lunchbox, said as about 10 shoppers milled about.

Lamarque's colleague, Brian Innis, said the height of the shopping frenzy was Saturday when "everybody seemed to be like in a frenzy - they were on a mission. It was crazy."

In Montreal, Ste-Catherine Street was bustling as 11th-hour shoppers took advantage of unseasonably warm weather.

Still, many like university student Andrea Bailey, found the city's stores surprisingly quiet.

"I thought it would be a lot more hectic and chaotic than it really is," she said. "We only got here like 45 minutes ago and we've got like three people done so far."

Bailey's shopping partner, Kirk Lee Foon, said he's a seasoned procrastinator when it comes to holiday shopping."

"I'm a guy - I leave it to the last minute," he said.

"It's just tradition. Go out at the last minute and see what you can do and see what you can get. It's still the thought that counts."

Cold rain drenched Ottawa's Sparks Street Mall, where most stores were shuttered and shoppers were few and far between. It seems many consumers hit the stores a day earlier in anticipation of the dismal weather.

At a small nearby mall, the only signs of life flickered at the movie theatres and the liquor store.

"I can't get over how dead it is for the 23rd," said Ottawa resident John McAvity. "I mean, look, this mall's empty."

© The Canadian Press, 2007