Regina retailers preparing for last-minute shoppers before Christmas

There’s only one more shopping day left until Christmas and shopping malls and stores are getting busier.

Cornwall Centre marketing manager Katie Dockham said since Black Friday, the mall has been full.

“December has just been such a fun month and Santa arrived on Black Friday and Black Friday always kind of kicks off holiday shopping,” she said.

Dockham said the Friday before Christmas and Christmas Eve typically are the mall’s two busiest days of the holiday season.

She said to prepare for the increase in customers, the individual retailers make sure that they are fully staffed.

Dockham said it’s not just retailers that have full complements of staff.

“We’re fully staffed up. Our management team is always on site. Our security teams are in full force keeping everybody safe. Our guest services team is selling a ton of gift cards this time of year,” she said.

Dockham added the mall is open until 5 p.m. Saturday and will reopen at 8 a.m. on Boxing Day.

Elsewhere in the Queen City, Sunshine and Ski is also finding that more people are coming into the store to finish some Christmas shopping.

Owner Brian Sampson said this has been one of the busiest years the store has had since it opened 45 years ago.

“I think it’s going to be really busy, so I would have your breakfast early and whatever shopping you have to do in Regina, I would get up and do it,” he said.

Sampson also expressed the importance of shopping local.

“I really believe this is a new experience being out shopping and enjoying and being together,” he said.

“The whole ‘shop local’ program has saved some businesses and I think it’s helped some businesses like ours sustain and obviously grow.”

Dean Renwick also is expecting some business on Saturday.

Renwick said that while his design studio is no longer open, he’s seeing an increase in calls for gift certificates.

“I have a feeling we’re going to get a couple more. I’ve had some people expressing it online looking for unique gifts like that, so I have a feeling we’re going to get two or three more calls,” he said.

Renwick added one of the calls he got was to make some house dresses for a woman’s mother.

He said he thinks this year people are scaling back when it comes to shopping because of the higher cost of living and rising inflation.

Renwick said in a way, that is a good thing.

“We don’t need to be worried about buying the biggest and the best. I think we just need to learn to give from the heart,” he said.