As soon as CrossIron Mills mall opened its doors on Boxing Day, the steady stream of shoppers looking for deals started.
According to CrossIron Mills Marketing Director Neha Khare, 73,285 people came through the doors on Dec. 26, 2013, a slight increase from the 73,204 patrons that went to the mall on Boxing Day in 2012.
In 2009, 52,653 people arrived and the following year it jumped to 67,262. In 2011, 74,168 people walked through the doors at the 1.4 million-square-foot shopping centre.
“It was pretty much a steady and constant stream of traffic as soon as we opened the entire place at 8 a.m. until we closed the doors at 7 p.m.,” Khare said.
“There were a few retailers in the mall that opened their doors at 6 a.m. for their sales such as Aeropostale and H& M, so we had some people in the halls early, but it was more dense with traffic as everyone opened.”
That steady stream of shoppers in CrossIron Mills was noticed by workers as well, such as Revolve Furnishings Design Consultant Nick Maio.
“It’s very exciting for sure, as you see heavier than normal traffic and you have lines going into places like Coach or EB Games,” Maio said. “Our store isn’t really a place where shoppers are necessarily going to flock to on Boxing Day compared to other retailers, but we did see a lot of people come into our store during the day to see what we have and to make some purchases.”
“A lot of our sales happened in the lead up to Christmas, so we were busier prior to Boxing Day,” he added.
Over at Roots Canada, Store Manager Dan Dickie was busy preparing himself in the lead up to Boxing Day.
“It was a mob scene all day long, but we kept busy as a staff and we saw an increase in our sales from last year,” he said.
“Our holiday sales were also better than last year, but I can’t really put my finger as to one major reason as to what that was.”
The stream of traffic throughout the mall was a reminder to Shoe Warehouse Store Manager Amanda Brewster of what things were like when she used to work in a kiosk at the mall, and she was assigned to work on Boxing Day.
“It was a couple of years ago now, but I remember that it was so busy in the mall that you could see the steam rising towards the top of the roof because of how packed everyone was,” Brewster said. “It wasn’t that nuts this year, but it was still pretty crazy to see some of the lineups.”
“Our store usually isn’t that busy during the holidays as there are not a lot of people who buy shoes during this time of year, but it was pretty busy here on Boxing Day,” she added.
