Canada Has a Lot to Learn About Outlet Shopping from the U.S.

Two things that women love to hear:

1.   I love you

2.   That’s on sale

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Anyone who knows me will tell you that I’m a dyed-in-the-wool bargain shopper. If something’s not at least 50% off I won’t even waste my time looking at it. Even at 50% off I’m not likely to buy it; more often than not that’s my starting point. My late father Joe was the ultimate bargain shopper and no one loved a deal more than he did. His level of bargain shopping skill is hard to live up to and whenever I’m out shopping I guarantee you Joe’s circling overhead to see how I’m doing. After I’ve paid I can usually hear him say, “I could have got a better deal” and he’d no doubt be right. But, there are times he’d smile.

My friend Sue and I were recently in Michigan on our annual girls’ golf week at www.boyne.com in Northern Michigan. We drive to Boyne and on route there is the mother of all outlet malls - Birch Run, the likes of which you just can’t find in Canada. Sadly in Canada outlet malls are typically no more than a collection of big box stores. The deals aren’t any better than you’d find anywhere else. Their only advantage I suppose is that there are a bunch of them in one place. The reality is that I can do better at the Bay, so why bother? But, at Birch Run, Michigan the deals are amazing, regardless of the exchange on the Canadian dollar! If the exchange rate was 50% the deals that Sue and I got would still be worth it.

So why can’t Canadian (so called) outlet malls be more like their American cousins? I’d prefer to spend my dollars in Canada if all things were equal. But, they’re not. The reality is that the deals are in the U.S. and next year on our way to Boyne Sue and I will again stop at Birch Run and spend the better part of half a day scooping up the bargains that we can’t possibly find at home. And these are bargains that Joe would be proud of!

You had me at clearance.

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Make someone smile today.

Geri