If you ask many big-city retail workers about Boxing Day sales, you might hear all kinds of stories about consumerism at its worst.
And although Boxing Day mayhem doesn’t catch the big-news headlines quite the same way Black Friday does in the U.S., anyone who has been to a big store right after Christmas will undoubtedly see people acting a little silly.
This year in Westlock, however, the Boxing Day shopping scene was fairly quiet — in part because so few stores were open. Still, the Westlock-area shoppers were well behaved and tend to be respectful year over year. Todd Arth, the owner of Arth’s Fashion Centre in downtown Westlock, said in his experience working Boxing Days he has never seen any of the violent incidents that seem to catch headlines each year. “We never have issues like that,” he said.
Arth said being open on that busiest of shopping days isn’t necessarily about the big deals, but for many people it’s a social experience.
“They are home visiting relatives and things and sometimes with their work, they only have Christmas Day and Boxing Day off,” he said. “They want to get out and see their home town, and shop at a store they grew up with.”
Business in Westlock on Boxing Day tends to be tied very closely to the weather, as well. The further the mercury drops, the more likely the crowds are to find their way into the store.
“If it’s cold, it’s good because there’s not much you can do outside in this cold weather. And if the roads aren’t good, people don’t like to travel so they come downtown looking for something to do,” he said.
John Carter, in town from the west coast visiting family, said the Boxing Day sales in Westlock were a little anti-climactic given what he’s seen in bigger cities.
“It’s not very much like Boxing Day in Victoria, but I guess you’re not likely to get that in a small town,” he said.
He said the craziest thing he ever witness on Boxing Day was two people fighting over a Playstation several years ago.
Carter added that since there weren’t a lot of options of places to shop in town, he probably wasn’t going to pick anything up.
“There are only a few stores open and the deals aren’t that great,” he said.
Westlock-area resident Sam Gladwood said she and her family came downtown to see what was happening and just to get out of the house.
“It’s just something to do. It’s nice to get out of the house and try to walk off some of that turkey,” she said. “You can sometimes get some pretty good deals on stuff right after Christmas.”
She hadn’t bought anything by early afternoon, but said she wouldn’t rule out the possibility.
While big urban centres can get hectic or even violent on Boxing Day, it seems that people in the Westlock area are a little more respectful than that.
