No Cyber Monday Either.

No, I didn't do any Cyber Monday shopping either.  Which I'm sure will disappoint whoever it is at Amazon that gave me a bunch of hits today. 

No Black Friday For Me.

Nope, I wasn't sitting in the cold freezing my rear off waiting to get into someplace at 6 AM.  I had to work.  I didn't go out after work for Black Friday shopping.  The only things I bought were things I normally buy.  Most of the stuff on sale was stuff I didn't want, and the stuff I did want was out of my price range right now.  Boxing Day is a much likely shopping day for me than Black Friday ever will be.

Really Big Spender.

The day after Christmas is known as Boxing Day in Canada.  It's become one of the big shopping days of the year in most of the country, with everyone out to spend their Christmas present money on deeply discounted stuff.  I braved the chaos of my local mall as well.

But I didn't actually buy anything there.  Rather I spent some of my Christmas money later on.  A whole 3 bucks on a lottery ticket.  The only place I went to look for something to buy of any note was the east side of Saskatoon Long and McQuade, and even there I was checking out something for a few weeks down the road.  Unfortunately the bass I was going to look at was sold.

Don't Freeze.

Seriously, if you're in Saskatoon don't be one of those mindless sheep who has to be at Bestbuy for its 6 AM opening.  No piece of consumer junk is worth freezing your butt off for hours on end at minus 30.  And I'm sure someone is getting ready to get in line even as I write this, so they can be first.

It Never Ends.

I'm just about to go out and buy a few grocery items.  This whole eating thing sure requires time and money, doesn't it?  And you can never get away from it.

Are You Out There?

I hope not.  I hope you aren't one of those people who are going to sit out in the cold all night so you can buy some supposed door crasher at 6 AM on Boxing Day.  It's silly.  Especially if you live in a place like Saskatoon, where it will be -23 Celsius overnight.  If you haven't left already stay home, and save yourself the pain.

Standing In Line.

If you're reading this post while standing in line 12 hours or whatever before your local super whatever store opens, all I can do is shake my head.  Is a cheap whatever really worth the discomfort of standing around in cold weather with a bunch of strangers, when you could be at home with the family?  Of course it's possible you live someplace where the stores open on Christmas Day after 6 PM or something  and have already been in line for hours, which is probably even worse.

Those of you who live in places where Christmas is just another day can of course ignore this post.

Way Too Fast.

When I went into Safeway this morning I noticed they already have a Valentine's Day section set up.  How ridiculous.  Boxing Day sales are still going on, and they're shilling a holiday that's more than two months away.  I seriously doubt anyone is thinking about Valentine's Day yet.

A Cloudy Future.

Yesterday I was up at Confederation Mall, located on Saskatoon's west side. Walking into Wal Mart it was obvious something was up. The store was short of a large amount of merchandise, and various fixtures were in the process of being moved. In other words it's quite obvious the store is being closed. A new and significantly larger Wal Mart is opening on the west side at the Blairmore Suburban Centre, making the current store obsolete. This of course brings up the question of the fate of Confederation Mall. Wal Mart has been a major draw to that mall for the last 15 years. It's hard to think of a new tenant that might take up that space given the rise of big box shopping areas in Saskatoon, which are likely to be more appealing to such a tenant. There are still of course various stores present, including a Safeway, but are they enough to keep customers coming? Confederation Mall does have the advantage of being one of the major Saskatoon Transit hubs on the west side, so perhaps that will help the mall survive.