Black Friday interest wanes as loonie continues to fall

The weak Canadian dollar and shifting buying trends is taking some of the allure out of hunting for big Black Friday bargains.

Black Friday, the day after American Thanksgiving, is a shopping bonanza and many Canadian retailers hadbeen struggling in recent years to keep shoppers from heading across the border to cash in on some of the deals.

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But the annual shopping eventdoesn't have the same value for Canadians it had a year ago, according to some Moncton consumers and retailers.

Denis Mazerolle is looking to purchase a new digital camera and is one of those shopperswho Canadian retailers would routinely lose.

He's young and tech-savvy and has taken advantage of major online sales from American retailers on Black Friday in previous years.

This year is different, however. With the Canadian dollar hovering around 75 cents US, plus shipping and duty, he said, those website deals are not that attractive anymore.

"This year, knowing how bad the dollar is doing, I'll probably have a look at some sales, but I'll mostly be sticking to Canadian websites," he says.

"I certainly won't be looking at American websites."

The event tends to focus on electronics, and according to recent Statistics Canada data, Canadian retailers have felt a slight shift.

Electronics and appliance store sales decreased in December 2014to 14.5 per cent from 16.1 per cent in 2006. November 2014 sales increased to 10.1 per cent from 8.9 per cent in 2006.

Retailer noticing shifting buying patterns

Some New Brunswick retailers are also sensing the shift in buying patterns.

Alain Bourelle, an audio-video specialist atSounds Fantastic in Moncton, says manyNew Brunswickers will choose to shop locally and forgo Black Friday this year in favour of Boxing Day, a more traditional day for Canadian bargain hunters.

"Boxing Day is still more busy. We open up earlier and it's a busy day all day. People are going around every store looking for that special," says Bourelle.

He says he thinks economic trends have played a part in Black Friday's diminishing reputation as well.

According to Bourelle, many of the best deals involved overstocked items that manufacturers were simply trying to get rid of.

"It started in '08, when the crashes happened. A lot of manufacturers got stuck with a lot of stuff," he says.

"And we had good deals then because we could buy this for very cheap and have the consumer take advantage of it."

He says in this weak economy, manufacturers and retailers are now more careful with their numbers.

Mazerolle says he still wants to buy his digital camera. If he chooses to skip Black Friday and wait until December, he'll be following the same pattern as many other Canadians.

Statistics Canada says sales of cameras have actually gone down in November but remained stable in December.

He says that despite his declining interest in American Black Friday deals, New Brunswickers still love a bargain.

"Oh, absolutely. If it's going to come from Black Friday or Boxing Day or any type of Christmas special, sign me up, I'm looking for it," he says.