Manitobans spending big

November 22, 2007
Winnipeg Free Press
Written by: Murray McNeill

Retail sales high heading into holiday season

MANITOBA consumers were among the biggest spenders in the country going into the home stretch this year, and local retailers say all signs point to a merry Christmas shopping season as well.

Statistics Canada figures released Wednesday show Manitoba was one of only four provinces to post an increase in retail sales in September -- the latest month for which figures are available.

The agency said Manitoba's sales were growing by 0.8 per cent to just over $1.9 billion at the same time that Canada's sales were shrinking by 0.2 per cent to $34.4 billion. It also had the fourth largest year-over-year increase at 8.1 per cent -- well above the national average of 5.4 per cent.

Local retailers said that spending spree is showing no signs of slowing as consumers enter the biggest shopping season of the year -- Christmas.

"We're on pace to have one of our best years ever," Neil Armstrong, chief operating and financial officer for the Winnipeg-based Warehouse One -- The Jeans Store retail chain said in an interview Wednesday.

Even the spectre of cross-border shopping isn't dampening retailers' spirits, according to Lanny McInnes, the Retail Council of Canada's top official in Manitoba.

"All of the strong underlying economic conditions that have been keeping retail sales solid for the last number of years are still there," McInnes said in an interview.

"So everything points to an optimistic mindset heading into the holiday season. What we're anticipating is similar results to last year, and last year saw just under five per cent sales growth (year over year)."

Armstrong said he's not too worried about Warehouse One customers taking advantage of the high-valued Canadian dollar -- it closed yesterday at US$101.25 cents -- and doing most of their Christmas buying south of the border.

He said consumers tend to head south for bigger-ticket items, like home electronics, rather than the kind of casual clothing items Warehouse One specializes in.

However, the general manager of Advance Electronics said he's not anticipating a lot of negative fallout from cross-border shopping, either.

Barry Olinyk said Advance has already taken steps to counter the cross-border-shopping threat, including bringing its prices more in line with U.S. prices and trying to carry many of the same products shoppers would find south of the border.

"The early signs are that it (the Christmas shopping season) is going to be very strong," he said.

Terry Robinson, manager of the S.I.R. sporting goods store in Winnipeg, said traffic is up significantly in the Ellice Avenue outlet since it slashed prices three weeks ago to stay competitive with U.S. prices.

Consumer survey results released earlier this week by Environics Research also indicate some big spending by Manitoba and Saskatchewan consumers this Christmas.

Thirty per cent of respondents from the two provinces said they plan to spend more than $1,000 this Christmas, which was well above the national average of 24 per cent, David MacDonald, the firm's vice-president of consumer research, said in an interview Wednesday.

Twenty-four per cent said they plan to spend between $250 and $499, 15 per cent said between $500 and $999, and 14 per cent said less than $250. The rest said they didn't know how much they'd be dishing out.

As for what they're likely to be buying, Olinyk said early indications are the hot sellers at Advance this Christmas will be flat panel televisions, digital cameras, cellphones and home theatre systems. At Warehouse One's nine Winnipeg stores, it's likely going to be denim and fleece products, Armstrong said.

-- With files from The Canadian Press

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca