Sense of solidarity among Quebecers freezing in line on Boxing Day
According to new survey, a quarter of Quebecers shop in stores for sales Dec. 26
Boxing Day is losing ground to Black Friday as the top sale shopping day in Quebec, according to a new survey by the Quebec Retail Council.
According to the 1,000 Quebecers surveyed in December, only about a quarter of them were planning on venturing out to shop Dec. 26.
However, almost half of respondents said they participated in Black Friday last November — 42 per cent, a seven per cent increase over 2016.
Quebecers are increasingly turning to online shopping to get their sales fix.
According to the survey, 31 per cent of Quebecers were planning on making online purchases after Christmas.
One of the things respondents were planning to shop for, if they ventured out, was electronics — 24 per cent of the people who were planning to shop in stores on Boxing Day said they'd brave the cold for sales on their favourite gadgets.
At the Best Buy in Anjou, the line snaked around the corner of the big box store on Tuesday.
Best Buy staff in Anjou gets hyped for the deluge! Started the staff meeting with a cheer. <a href="https://twitter.com/CBCMontreal?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CBCMontreal</a> <a href="https://t.co/aohEEJTHHP">pic.twitter.com/aohEEJTHHP</a>
—@vestevieClaude Venne arrived at the store at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday and was the first person in line.
He came equipped with a cooler to sit on and some hot coffee.
He was looking to buy a Canon camera and hoped to save about $60 on it.
Xavier Bordeleau shared some hot paws heat packets with his neighbours in line. He arrived at 9:30 a.m. and Venne shared coffee with him.
He said there was a sense of community among the people waiting in the cold.
"There's a kindness there, for the Christmas season. Solidarity," Bordeleau said.
With files from Verity Stevenson