Ottawa shoppers head back to stores and malls for Black Friday

Black Friday shoppers in the nation's capital found themselves back among the crowds as the ongoing strike by postal workers threatened the arrival of holiday orders.

"The talk and the threat of that, I think, is going to move some people away from the online channel, thinking, is that a safe way to place an order?" said retail analyst David Ian Gray, founder of DIG360.

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That's what drove Marcy D'Alessandro and her family of 16 to attend Tanger Outlets in Kanata Friday, eager to complete their holiday shopping in one mad dash.

"Just with the mail strike, I was worried about if [orders] would come on time," D'Alessandro told CTV News.

"We've got our bags. We've got our list of shopping ready to go, and we're just trying to get through it all so that Christmas will come, and we'll be all ready to go."

Many shoppers at the outlet mall had similar thoughts, creating packed parking lots and long lines.

"The worst one, I want to say, is Lululemon," said shopper Avery Shepherd. "I waited for an hour to check out in line."

Gray says in recent years, Black Friday deals have underwhelmed shoppers, who often look for large discounts on big-ticket items.

Shepherd says while the wait may not have been worth the discount at Lululemon, there are plenty of other deals to score this weekend.

"Under Armour is pretty good, it's 50 per cent off. Roots is decent, it's about 30 to 40 per cent off."

The weaker Canadian dollar is also keeping some shoppers from heading across the border.

"We used to go to the States and really get good deals," said D'Alessandro. "But we stayed in Canada with the dollar, and 20, 30 per cent is kind of what I expect."

Gray says while online shopping has been on the rise since the pandemic, brick-and-mortar stores have consistently held strong at busy shopping times.

Recently, retailers have extended so-called Black Friday deals from the start of November into the beginning of December, creating ample shopping time for consumers.

"Black Friday itself will be an incredibly busy day. Cyber Monday will be a busy day, the Saturdays in December as well," says Gray.