Boxing Day shopping isn’t what it used to be.
With the advent of online shopping and Boxing Week sales promotions starting before Christmas at many local retailers, there was little reason to stand in line at big box stores early in the morning.
In fact, the Best Buy location on Lynden Road in Brantford had no one waiting standing in line at 7:15 am Monday when the temperature was a brisk -8 C.
“Business has started off well today, for the first day of Boxing Week,” said Matthew Forrest, sales floor manager at FM Audio Video on King George Road. “As far as the month goes, a lot of people were shopping beforehand because Boxing Week sales started prior to Boxing Day.”
Forrest said those types of promotions allow people to put the gifts they want under the Christmas tree and not have to worry about the price being lower on Boxing Day.
He said sales have generally been pretty good over the past few months.
“Throughout the pandemic we did very well,” Forrest noted. “A lot of people were staying home, not going to restaurants or on vacation, so they decided to do projects at their house” such as improving their home entertainment experience.
“Our TV died so we came looking for a TV,” said Steve Burchell of Brantford. “We always like to shop local, having a local business of my own.
“I’ve been dealing with Howie (Fraser) here at FM before it was FM. Originally it was Krazy Kelly’s. Their pricing is the same as (big box stores) and you get better service. These are good guys here.”
Matthew manages sales, while his brother Jeff Forrest heads up the installation and custom AV division. The family-owned business was started almost 40 years ago by their father Greg.
“I think it’ll start to slow down a bit going into 2023,” Matthew observed. “I think people are a little more cautious with rising prices everywhere around them. Electronics, for the most part, always seem to be on sale or at a low price.”
Elsewhere in Brantford, parking lots at Lynden Park Mall and Walmart on King George Road were filled with cars, though getting from one store to the next was a bit more costly for shoppers needing to gas up.
Fuel prices in the city on Boxing Day averaged $1.45 per liter, up sharply from the low $1.30 range late last week.