Boxing Day shoppers take advantage of savings at a Future Shop in Ottawa.
You win this round, homeowners who enjoy "peace" and "quiet."
Acting on complaints by residents, the planning committee of Victor, N.Y., has blocked a bid by the local Wal-Mart to stay open from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. from Nov. 25 to 26 for Black Friday - the biggest shopping day of the year in the United States.
According to The Consumerist, locals were concerned that if Wal-Mart stayed open all night, deal-hungry customers would contribute to "light pollution, traffic disruption, and the sound of car doors slamming." They also feared this might set a precedent, allowing other retailers to do the same.
Our Black Friday equivalent, Boxing Day, has ignited debates of its own in Canada - though the question isn't how early stores should open, but whether they should open at all.
Sault Ste. Marie held a referendum last month on whether stores should be open on the day after Christmas. While the majority voted against letting them open, the results were discounted because less than 50 per cent of the population voted. In any case, stores will stay closed as they have in years before, in keeping with existing municipal law. Some residents who support Boxing Day shopping argue that it's unfair to local retailers who may lose sales to those in nearby communities or, worse, to the United States.
Last year in New Brunswick, where provincial law requires stores to close on Boxing Day, retailers held Boxing Day sales on Dec. 27 instead (though because Dec. 27 was a Sunday, shoppers still had to wait till noon to snag those discounted big-screen TVs).
Are you in favour of stores being open on Boxing Day or should we respect it as a holiday, stay home and gorge ourselves on rum balls instead?