Retail sales in Burnaby this holiday season are flatter than a half-empty bottle of champagne on New Year's Day.
But one local mall - Metropolis at Metrotown - is bucking the trend, according to Artie Chumpol, digital marketing and public relations manager for the mall's management company, Ivanhoe Cambridge.
"Metropolis at Metrotown has been super busy," she said, adding she noticed a lot of people shopping last week when she was working until 9 p.m. "A lot of people were out and about, and there were a lot of shopping bags. That must mean a lot of people are spending."
The mall has a number of new retailers this year, including the Apple Store and H&M, which may be contributing to the turnout, she said.
"They're very popular with our shoppers," Chumpol said.
But the experience at Metropolis at Metrotown isn't the same for other malls in the city.
Things aren't bad at Brentwood Town Centre, but it's not much better than last year, according to the mall's manager, Brian Wong.
The mall was badly hit by the recession during the Christmas shopping season of 2009, he said.
"It was the worst we saw," Wong added.
Last year, there was "no significant improvement," he said, adding the situation is much the same this year, though there has been a slight increase.
However, retailers won't really have a good idea how the season is going until the week of Christmas, he said on Dec. 16.
The last two weeks - and the last two days in particular - are when retailers do a large portion of business, Wong explained.
But that trend is changing, as clueless shoppers no longer descend in frantic droves on stores on Christmas Eve, he added.
"Quite often, customers know what they're looking for. They're researching online," he said.
"Customers are doing research, and seemingly waiting for deals."
This can be a problem for shops if the weather is bad, keeping people from going out, he said, but the forecast this year is indicating a green Christmas for Burnaby.
Mall sales have been stronger this year, he said, but consumers are still conscious of the worldwide economic turmoil taking place.
Increasing household debt in Canada is also at the back of consumers' minds, Wong added.
Customers are also looking for more with their shopping experience, according to Wong.
They're using social media to keep track of mall events and to find out where the most genuine-seeming Santa is.
Sales are also flat at Lougheed Town Centre this season, according to Beverly Diallo, marketing director for the mall.
A few retailers are responding by offering reductions, up to 50 per cent off in some stores, she said.
While it may have been uncommon to have sales before Boxing Day a few years ago, Diallo said, that is no longer the case.
Retailers also held sales more frequently this year, overall, she pointed out.
But there is a strong possibility the prices could still drop even more for Boxing Day, she said, as everyone expects sales at that time.
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