CF Polo Park was home to heavy traffic and long lines on Boxing Day.
Winnipeg’s largest mall opened its doors and stores like EB Games had a lineup of people that lasted for hours.
“I arrived here at 7:30 (a.m.), I waited outside,” said Darien Valentine, who was attempting to purchase an Xbox for his partner.
“It’s like 1:15pm…It’s heartbreaking.”
Valentine said he typically purchases his video games and consoles online, but wanted to take his chance at the mall for a possibly better deal, and to get the Xbox right away.
“I thought I could get it here, instead of waiting in the mail, because the mail takes a long time,” he said.
Other shoppers who do most of their purchasing online tried Boxing Day at Polo Park, but were not big fans of the experience.
“We've never done a Winnipeg Boxing Day sale and after today, we'll never do it again," Brian Vroomen said.
Vroomen and his wife came to Winnipeg from Kenora, Ont., to try and purchase a tablet. They said the wait times were too long and they did not like the big crowds. Vroomen said he typically shops online and said it’s the way to go.
"You've got so much choice at a flick of a few mouse clicks, and you can price compare so quickly, and, compared to the brick and mortar stores, the brick and mortar does not have the same advantages as the online shopping stores,” Vroomen said.
Polo Park general manager Peter Havens said mall traffic is typically at its highest during Boxing Day, but said Black Friday drew comparable numbers.
“Black Friday was exceptionally good. We had over 100,000 people come through the mall. We expect it to give this year’s Boxing Day a run for its money,” he said.
