From surgeons to students, thousands search for Boxing Day deals

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World-renowned heart surgeon Dr. Wilbert Keon may be retired from surgery and the Senate but, when it comes to a good deal, he still has plenty of get-up-and-go.

Keon was one of thousands of Boxing Day shoppers who fanned the city looking for a good deal, whether it was housewares, fashion or electronics.

The retired senator and founder of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute was spotted in the jampacked parking lot of the Best Buy on Merivale Road Saturday afternoon, opening the back of his SUV so two store employees could lift in his 55-inch Samsung LED Smart TV into the back.

He said the new flatscreen will replace his current “fuzzy” TV in the basement of the family cottage.

“I watch football on it but the grandkids play games on it and watch TV and so forth and it’s great when they’re down there … and get to run their own show,” said Keon, who turned 80 in May. “I try to be a good grampa and buy all kinds of toys for the water and for the land and for the trails behind the cottage.”

Keon and his wife went shopping at Best Buy on Dec. 23 and found what they wanted. By waiting three days he managed to save around $400 on his purchase.

“We went to some stores and we looked around and they seemed to have the largest inventory in here.”

Another shopper who walked away with a good deal was Jarred Cohen, 22, who has been waiting for years to invest in a Sony PlayStation, and walked away with the coveted PS4 Uncharted trilogy. He paid $369, about a $60 savings.

“I’d like to think it’s a good savings,” said Cohen, who also saved $20 on a $70 DVD. “I looked online last night and they had the Boxing Week sale (posted), and I thought I needed the console after eight years. This wasn’t an impulse buy necessarily. I mulled it over for a while.”

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After waiting for years to buy a Sony PlayStation, Jarred Cohen decided Boxing Day was the time to purchase and picked up the PS4 Uncharted trilogy.

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Retailers are gravitating towards a ‘Boxing Week’ protocol, rather than just Boxing Day, says Rideau Centre general manager Cindy VanBuskirk.


Cindy VanBuskirk, Rideau Centre general manager, calls shoppers like Keon and Cohen “mission driven.”

“I would say in their shopping, there are specific things they are coming to look for, to acquire,” said VanBuskirk. “Maybe things that they’ve seen while they’ve been doing gift shopping and they want to come back and get that for themselves.”

VanBuskirk has been working with the Rideau Centre for 23 years, and has slowly seen the shift from Boxing Day to Boxing Week sales because it’s practical for both the shopper and the retailer.

“Having Boxing Day on a Saturday with everybody off next week, it creates more opportunities for people to spend time with family and friends but there are still lots of days for them to come out and take advantage of the great offers,” says VanBuskirk.

“But you also see a lot of people out spending gift cards. So there’s a lot of business being done in gift card redemption on Boxing Day and also on Boxing week. And if you think about it, your gift card goes a little bit further when things are on sale.

Also, she says with seasonal collections being released, seemingly, earlier each year, week-long sales ensure more inventory will be cleared.

“It is very important for retailers to create that space they need for upcoming spring merchandise.”

While some have said that Boxing Day is losing steam in favour of Black Friday, a representative from Best Buy said the day after Christmas is still their biggest shopping day of the year.

Elliott Chun says the store’s Boxing Day deals are typically a little better than those on Black Friday, although the November shopping event is a popular day to pick up Christmas gifts.

And on both days, the country is moving toward shopping online, favouring websites and mobile apps over bricks-and-mortar stores.

pmccooey@ottawacitizen.com

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Shoppers line up outside Best Buy shortly before the store’s 6 a.m. opening in Ottawa on Boxing Day.

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