High hopes for holiday spending

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This article was published 19/10/2023 (738 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This Christmas, Wayne Rempel expects to spend more money.

He joins the average shopper in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Respondents to a Retail Council of Canada survey plan to spend $770 this holiday season, up from $608 last year.

Nationally, consumers are projecting an “unprecedented” spend, albeit a strategic one, the retail council detailed in a report announced Wednesday.

“After the pandemic, being with people, I just appreciate (them) far more,” Rempel said near Corydon Avenue.

He’s not skimping on the holidays and expects to pay a “minor” amount more than years past — things are generally more expensive now, he noted.

“We are expecting a record spend, but in a mindful way,” said Michelle Wasylyshen, the Retail Council of Canada’s spokeswoman. “(People) do intend to spend more, but it’s with recognition that things are going to be more expensive.”

For six years, the retail council has conducted a holiday shopping survey with research company Leger.

Its latest report highlights a majority of people deal-hunting and a decline in self-gifting. Almost a quarter of the 2,500 respondents nationally plan to increase their holiday budget.

More than half reported they’ll hunt for sales, while 40 per cent said they’ll stick to a precise budget.

“We have to give people a little more of what they’re hoping for — kind of meet them part way,” said Trish Wittmann, manager of Corydon Avenue shop Riley Grae.

The four-year-old store might hold Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, something it’s never done before.

Riley Grae sales normally come after the holiday season, Wittmann said. Retail activity generally slows in the first months of the year.

“Everybody’s pocketbooks are tight, including ours,” Wittmann noted. “Maybe there’s a little common ground… we can do something for them as they do something for us.”

She expressed hope for bustling holiday traffic — and worry people will be too squeezed to spend, requiring enticing deals.

“As a small business, that’s sometimes hard to give,” Wittmann said.

Her business has a Canada Emergency Business Account loan. Ottawa handed companies loans up to $60,000 during the pandemic to keep businesses afloat.

The deadline for repayment is mid-January, after major holidays like Christmas and Hannukah. Many businesses have bet on meeting the deadline to receive up to $20,000 as a forgivable portion on their loan.

“I personally know a lot of businesses that, after (repayment), may not make it,” Wittmann said. “It might be like, ‘Here you go, government — thanks and goodbye.’ I’m hoping that’s not us.

“Perhaps the pandemic is over, but all of us small businesses are still trying to recuperate.”

She wishes the federal government would push the CEBA loan deadline back one year. Meantime, Riley Grae needs holiday sales to put towards loan repayment.

“We’re preparing for… it to be a very successful Christmas,” Wittmann said. “I’ll keep my fingers crossed.”

Valencia Boutique is preparing for an “OK” holiday season, employee McKenna Butz said.

“I think retail in general is a little bit slower than maybe it has been before, but we are finding that people are coming in and leaving with things,” she continued.

Customers are increasingly strategically buying, focused on getting value from their purchases, Butz highlighted.

Holiday spending — and whether to purchase fewer presents or pay more overall — has been a conversation between Bob Bastable and his spouse.

“My wife’s really good at looking for something that’s… on sale,” Bastable mentioned. “She’s a pretty good shopper.”

Small business confidence has dropped slightly with the holiday season upcoming, said Brianna Solberg, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business’ director of legislative affairs for the Prairies and northern Canada.

“I think business owners have tried all they can to avoid raising prices beyond what they believe their customers are willing to pay,” Solberg said. “(But) over the past year, nearly every line item in their budgets have gone up.”

Local businesses fear they’re losing customers to multinational companies, she added. Two-thirds of respondents to the Retail Council of Canada’s national survey said they’d choose where they’d shop based on sales.

The CFIB will release a report today on buying local versus at big box stores.

“I think many people hold the assumption that the best deals are only at large retailers,” Solberg said. “Small, local businesses can be more competitive than you think.”

More than two-thirds of Manitoba and Saskatchewan residents are concerned they’ll be in “financial trouble” if interest rates rise again, according to a consumer debt index MNP LLP unveiled Wednesday.

Half of the 190 respondents voiced concerns about being driven to bankruptcy.

Cutting back on spending has been “a work in progress” for many, noted Tanya Reynolds, a Winnipeg-based licensed insolvency trustee with MNP.

“People I speak with are always putting undue pressure on themselves, whether they’re just trying to keep… their families happy (or) trying to keep up with the Joneses,” Reynolds said.

Having “hard conversations” about realistic spending is important, as is keeping holiday spending to “what you can afford this year,” Reynolds stated.

The Retail Council of Canada conducted its survey between Aug. 14 and 23. A margin of error can’t be ascribed because the survey used a web panel, not a random sample of Canadians.

MNP compiled data for its consumer debt index between Sept. 5 and 8.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com