Black Friday
Every year during the American Thanksgiving weekend, Canadians travel in droves across the border to take advantage of Black Friday sales. These are the sales you see on the news where people are lined up over night outside Walmart and Best Buy to spend the next day shoving each other out of the way, all in the name of nabbing that the last Tickle Me Elmo (yes, I know I’m dating myself). Well, this year Downtown Kingston has decided to bring the shopping home. No border line up, no passport and no foreign currency required. All day today over 60 stores downtown will be offering huge discounts, gift cards, buy-one-get-one deals and more. In addition to this, Santa Bucks are back. For every $50 you spend at participating downtown shops and restaurants, you can redeem one $10 buck. Get your Christmas shopping off to a great start and show our local shop owners and restaurateurs some love!
In conjunction with this theme of supporting all things local, and to add to this week’s YGK Challenge, we have two Kingston Symphony tickets up for grabs for one lucky winner. Drop off a comment below for your chance to win a draw at 6pm today. The concert in question is this Sunday, November 27th a The Kingston Gospel Temple at 2:30pm and will feature cellist David Eggert performing Tchaikovsky’s famous Rococo Variations and Saint-Saens’ powerful Cello Concerto. The symphony will also be performing Ravel’s dreamy Mother Goose Suite and Respighi’s elegant Ancient Airs and Dances. It will be a truly beautiful experience. If you don’t win the draw, I really hope to see you there anyway! Tickets can be purchased at the Grand Theatre Box Office or online.
Black Friday Participating Stores
Accent The Details 62 Brock Street
Agent 99 244 Princess Street
A-one Clothing 62 Princess Street
American Apparel 74 Princess Street
Birds ‘n Paws 29 Brock Street
Blueprint 246 Princess Street
Brian’s Record Option 381 Princess Street
Camera Kingston 114 Princess Street
Card’s Bakery 304 Bagot Street
Chris James 253 Ontario Street
Cornerstone 255 Princess Street
Creative Framing 344 Princess Street
Designer Baby 60 Brock Street
Diana Esthetic Centre 327 King Street
Dover’s Men’s Wear 155 Princess Street
Dwell Boutique 207 Wellington Street
Earth To Spirit 340 King Street
Echo Hair Studio 344 Bagot Street
Estilo 68 Princess Street
Extreme Style 227 Princess Street
Fancy That 48 Princess Street
Feel Yoga 80 Princess Street
Felicity and Fritz 127 Princess Street
Fiancee Jewellers 216 Princess Street
For Every Season 215 Princess Street
Frontenac Jewellers 75 Princess Street
Futon Frame Outlet 282 Princess Street
Gap 234 Princess Street
Get Funky Boutique 39 Montreal Street
Goddess Blends 34 Princess Street
Gracie’s Ladies Wear 326 King Street
Hatley 86 Brock Street
Heel Boy 212 Princess Street
I Mode 206 Princess Street
Indigo 259 Princess Street
Just Hifi 239 Princess Street
Kingston Gaming Nexus 270 Bagot Street
Kingston Glass Studio 56 Queen Street
Kingston Frameworks 198 Princess Street
La Maison D’Eva 208 Princess Street
McMahon’s House of Flowers 117 Princess Street
Minotaur 165 Princess Street
Modern Primitive 72 Princess Street
Next Exit 202 Princess Street
Novel Idea 156 Princess Street
Novellino 286 Princess Street
Oasis Dance Studio 73 Brock Street
Olden Green 78 Princess Street
Rockit Boutique 210 Princess Street
Rogers 122 Princess Street
Roots 229 Princess Street
Roundstone 50 Princess Street
Send in the Clowns 120 Princess Street
Shamand Decorating 174 Princess Street
Smith Army Surplus 86 Princess Street
Starling Vintage Lovelies 316 Princess Street
Taylor Studios 285 King Street
The Amber Room 7 Princess Street
The Rocking Horse 193 Princess Street
The Sports Tap & Grill 125 Brock Street
Three Boutique 268 Princess Street
Trailhead 262 Princess Street
Tres Ors Jewellers 168 Princess Street
Tribal Voices 115 Princess Street
Trugs Home 66 Brock Street
T-Shirt Gallery 238 Princess Street
Tweed & Hickory 101 Princess Street
Urban Outfitters 207 Princess Street
Urban Trade 201 Princess Street
Very Shari 255 Princess Street
Wallack’s Art Supply 290 Princess Street
Walton Boxing Gym 122 Princess Street
Willow Soul 112 Princess Street
right on DTK. right friggen on.
Hey Craig, you won the tickets! Please check your email to confirm you'll be there today!
Looks like we'll have to go for a stroll downtown to check out the promotions. :-) Great initiative!
decide to go to downtown in an hour…!
Glad I’m in town to check out the local deals
It's been a while since I've heard the KSA. Enter me please!
I got tons of Christmas gifts today while staying under budget!!! Love the sales
Saw lots of these signs earlier today walking through downtown. Great to see this! Keep the business local people!
Canadians buy at American stores because the base cost is cheaper, better selection, the sales tax is less, and quite frankly the prices are so much less for me…its totally worth the passport and tolls and gas. Sorry, its nice to promote local business (I do frequent in YGK) , but in this economy…price counts and when our dollar was at par w the US…Kingston retailers never reduced their prices.
Agree with Squid…Just can't understand why Canadians continue to get gouged by their own retailers… Just back from Syracuse and made an $1800 purchase that would have cost us $1000 more in town …. well worth the drive even taking into account gas, the New York sales tax and the HST at the border.
Don't blame the retailers. Blame the suppliers who charge more to get the product to our stores, or the manufacturers who insist on a higher MSRP for Canada, or even the government for the additional taxes charged on products coming into our country for resale. Blame it on the great distances between our major cities, which force freight costs to be much higher just getting the products to the stores – sure Ontario is pretty densely populated in the southern areas, but should people pay less for the same product there compared with say… Regina?
Anyway, I don't think it's so much that prices are higher in Canada as that prices are LOWER in the states. What I mean by this is that if you compare like for like in terms of pricing with the states and any country in Europe, or Canada, or Australia, or most other developed countries, you will find the US is cheaper. I grew up over in the UK and trust me, Canadians can't complain about high prices compared with what they suffer over there. The US is the main market for most product manufacturers, it's the biggest slice of the pie and I imagine they are all focused on competing in that market. Sadly that leaves the rest of us as an afterthought and the same level of pricepoint competition doesn't exist outside the states.
Sorry, but as someone who managed a store in downtown Kingston and had to suffer the headaches firsthand when our dollar hit par a few years back, I feel the need to defend our stores. To shift all the blame on the retailer isn't fair, especially when it comes to stores that aren't part of a specifically branded chain and have little control over what they pay for their product.
Great to have perspective of local retailers. Books are one of the big things that stick out in my mind. Even with the dollar at par, the sticker price is more in Canada. Obviously that's not a concoction of local retailers.