WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Black Friday Bargains Help Lure Canadian Shoppers

Black Friday Bargains Help Lure Canadian Shoppers

Plattsburgh, New York - November 27, 2009

Cindy Jolly and Wendy Smith are on a cross-border quest for bargains.

"She saved $300 on the last item she bought from JCPenney's and it's worth the trip," Smith said.

They live in Canada and say the shopping trip south of the border is made even more fun by the favorable exchange rate.

"Right now it's very good, it's almost on par," Smith noted. "Sometimes I've been using my Canadian dollars and it doesn't hurt as much."

That's good news for retailers in the U.S. The Champlain Centre mall in Plattsburgh was packed Friday with shoppers from both sides of the border.

"We do offer shopping experiences they don't have in Canada, different stores, and so on," said Joan LaPier, the marketing director at Champlain Centre. "And of course with the exchange rate right now, as well as some of our items are less expensive than those in Canada."

Canada doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving when the U.S. does, so most people there don't have Black Friday off of work. Still, the mall says about 20-30 percent of its shoppers Friday were from north of the border.

"We've already had a lot of Canadians in today and they really pump up our sales," said Gabrielle Rose of the Adirondack Trading Company, who said salespeople try to make Canadian shoppers feel welcome.

"I speak a bit of French," she said, "and I've taught the other people some of it. So it helps when you can say 'bonjour' and 'comment ça va,' and they go 'oh, cool.' It helps."

There is a catch, though, to a south-of-the-border spending spree-- Canadians pay a duty on certain items when they cross back over the border. That's on top of the sales tax they pay here.

"It depends on where it's made," Jolly said. "If it's made in China, it's a higher percentage you have to pay, I think 30 percent sometimes. If it's made in the U.S. it's much cheaper."

Donald Martin of Montreal says he comes shopping in Plattsburgh every year and has learned how to avoid the duty.

"There's a limit," he said. "We don't buy over the limit so we don't have to pay the duty. So then it is worth it, yes."

With Black Friday bargains, Cindy Jolly and Wendy Smith expect they will still come out ahead.

"It's still worth it to pay the duty once we get to the border with the specials we're going to get over here," Jolly said.

Kate Duffy - WCAX News