'An extraordinary turnout': Calgary shops enjoy holiday bounce back

“It was just an extraordinary turnout, to be honest, it was insane down here,” said Victor Tipper, owner of The Hidden Gem. “It was a totally different world because we’re so used to not seeing that. But there was tons of people out shopping. We were busy ourselves Monday to Sunday from the end of October right to Christmas Day.”He said customers were mostly seeking local options as opposed to chains and big box stores.

Annie MacInnis, Kensington BRZ executive director, said they took a proactive approach through social media and other avenues to make themselves a destination. It was the eighth year for the promotion and they got people driving from across the city and beyond to come to the area.Advertisement 4“I think that people are being more deliberate in their shop-local intentions,” said MacInnis.

She said customers were seemingly holding out for better deals leading up to Christmas that did not necessarily materialize.According to Avison Young, this meant a big bump in traffic on Boxing Day — traditionally one of the biggest shopping days of the year but which has languished over the past decade due to the emergence of Black Friday. Nationally, Boxing Day traffic was up nine per cent over last year, but it jumped 33 per cent in Calgary and 61 per cent in Edmonton.

“I was so worried I was losing sleep in November that we were not going to get anywhere close to the pre-pandemic levels,” he said. “And so I gotta say, you know, personally, I was a little bit surprised we got to those numbers.”

Glad to hear business was good but we are still in a Pandemic!!

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