Boxing Day in Greater Victoria no longer commands the crowds or attention it used to in past years, but stores are still reporting strong holiday sales.
At Good Vibe Space, a boutique store on Johnson Street, only a few racks of clothing were marked at half-off in price on Tuesday.
Salesperson Maya Kara said that Good Vibe Space rarely has sales on Boxing Day because much of the merchandise comes from local makers and any discounts would have to be individually negotiated, though the store did throw a large sale party earlier in the month.
Boxing Day started off slower than on days the week before, but the overall holiday season has been busy, Kara said.
“Honestly, Johnson Street and this job — you could have zero people in one minute and the next you have 20,” she said.
Two doors over, Nicole Salthouse was concluding her first sale of the day at Mango’s Boutique, which had a large Boxing Week sale sign outside.
Salthouse, who owns the store, said Boxing Day has fallen off as an important retail day in the past decade.
In past years, there would be lineups at the door when she opened at 8 a.m., she said. “It’s just like a normal Saturday now.”
Davis Malton, who works at the family-owned Urban Art print store in the Bay Centre shopping mall, offered a similar view of Boxing Day commerce.
“Boxing Day and Black Friday, people just do them for weeks now. It’s not just the one day,” he said. “So there’s not much urgency.”
His sister, Allie, said that the holiday season is still a busy time for the store, particularly in the four days leading up to Dec. 25.
A fair number of downtown stores were closed Tuesday, but plenty of people were out in the streets with friends and family, looking at the wares in stores and enjoying the post-storm weather.
