Shoppers descend on malls for Black Friday deals across the GTA

It’s the Olympics of bargain hunting.

Black Friday kicked off bright and early Friday morning in the GTA.

Shoppers lined up for hours, some for more than a day, to nab deals on clothes, shoes, and electronics.

But industry analysts say shoppers expectations of deep, U.S.-style discounts, may be disappointed when they get to the till.

Extended hours

Several malls and stores are offering extended hours for Black Friday.

The Eaton Centre opened at 6 a.m., that’s four hours earlier than usual, and will close at 9:30 p.m.

Sherway Gardens is open from 7 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Vaughan Mills, Scarborough Town Centre, and the Shops at Don Mills are open from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m.

Yorkdale’s shopping hours run from 7 a.m. until 9:30 p.m.

Some shops at Toronto’s Premium Outlets in Halton Hills opened at 6 a.m. and close at 10 p.m.

And Dufferin Mall is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Online shopping

But not all shoppers will be heading to the stores on Friday, as a growing number of people will be surfing the net for deals.

According to a new Ipsos Reid poll, a third of Canadians will be buying all their gifts online –that’s up 50 per cent from a similar survey just a year ago.

This year’s poll also suggests that many of those who plan to hit the stores will do online research beforehand.

If you plan on doing some shopping online this year, here are some safety tips from the federal government:

  • Make sure the website your buying from is secure by looking for “https” in the address bar or a lock symbol
  • Clarify the costs for shipping, duty and taxes. You don’t want to be surprised with additional fees
  • Print hard copies of your receipts
  • Double-check credit card or debit statements for surprise charges

Read the consumerhandbook.ca for more tips.

The deals

H&M is offering items starting at $5, and the first 100 shoppers can get up to $300 off their purchase.

At Indigo, toys are 25 per cent off and Kobos are $40 off.

Porter Airlines has marked down many flights by 60 per cent.

At Wal-Mart, a 58-inch smart LED TV is priced at less than $800. Future Shop and Best Buy, of course, are offering deals on electronics.

At Footlocker, near Yonge and Dundas, some shoppers have been waiting since Thursday morning to buy the latest Air Jordan sneakers. One man even brought 20 chairs to lineup outside the store to hold spots in the lineup.

 

 

Click here for an interactive chart on how much Canadians are expected to spend on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Data courtesy of BMO.

Cross-border shopping

Canadians shopping in the U.S. must declare any items purchased during their trip.

Shoppers out of the country for less than 24 hours are not eligible for any duty exemptions.

But if the trip is 24 to 48 hours, up to $200 is allowed duty-free, excluding tobacco and alcohol.

If the trip is longer than 48 hours, goods up to $800 can be claimed without paying any duty or taxes, including tobacco and alcohol.

American shoppers

South of the border, huge crowds of bargain-hungry shoppers pushed and shoved their way into stores the day after U.S. Thanksgiving.

This is the busiest shopping day of the year, with everyone looking to get some sales.

Some shopping giants opened at midnight but a growing trend is Gray Thursday, where some of the most popular stores open the day before.

K-Mart and Best Buy just are just a few that opened their doors on Thursday.

Roughly 140 million Americans are expected to do some marked down shopping this weekend.

With files from Toronto staff

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