Lineups of bargain-seeking shoppers were a common sight on Boxing Day with stores selling electronics leading the way, but plenty of clothing stores also experienced the post-Christmas crush too.
Several retail outlets at Pine Centre Mall had reached the point where the gate had to be dropped to limit the number of customers in the store at any one time.
It made for an exciting day for one store manager.
"I sometimes wish we could have Boxing Day everyday," said Melissa Binnie of District Clothing Co. "Seriously, my favourite day to work is Boxing Day. It's a crazy day, you barely get breaks, but it's just a huge rush."
Outside Future Shop, enough people had gathered prior to the opening at 6 a.m. to wrap around the corner to Jysk linen and furniture, and the day remained brisk up until the last hour before it closed at 9 p.m., said sales
manager Kevin Lalonde.
Lalonde did not provide sales totals but said it was busier and more successful than last year, as was the whole Christmas shopping season.
"Maybe it's because of the huge volume of people coming in from out of town," Lalonde said. "We had lots of people coming in from Mackenzie, Fort St. James,
Vanderhoof and Quesnel."
Gaming consoles and home entertainment systems moved well, Lalonde said.
Across Vance Road at Andres Audiotronic, sales beat last year's Boxing Day record, said manager Ed Jang.
"It goes to show you that an independent store like ours can keep up with the big box retailers, no problem," Jang said.
Flat screen televisions were particularly popular.
"We were selling them at or below cost," Jang said. "We wanted to be very aggressive, we wanted to show that we can compete with the power retailers."
The crush was so big the store could let in only a dozen customers at a time and activity remained steady Tuesday after the initial rush.
"We carry the Boxing Day deals for two days and then the other manufacturers' rebates are still in effect until the end of the week," Jang said. "Last year, on New Year's Eve, we were packed."
About 200 people waited outside London Drugs at Parkwood Mall before opening, said the chain's senior vice president Clint Mahlman.
Consumer electronics were big sellers, but household appliances - notably freezers - also moved well, as did season health and beauty products, Mahlman said.
Back at Pine Centre Mall, EB Games sales clerk Justin Zimmer arrived to a line up of at least 100 people stretching past Lush bath and cosmetics products. Assassin's Creed: Revelations and Saints Row: The Third sold the best.
"It was great to see, definitely," Zimmer said.
"A lot of people showed up and it was good for us."
Although not a typical Boxing Day destination, Canadian Tire in Westgate was busier than usual said, general manager David Shuvera.
"We had a really strong flyer full of great savings that actually goes all week and we had a number of people at our front door yesterday morning at 8 a.m. and not only were they able to take advantage of great specials but we had significant traffic and business throughout the day," Shuvera said.
