A promotion at Bellingham’s Bellis Fair Mall in which some stores are taking the Canadian dollar at par will be offered again during the Canada Day long weekend in July.
Guy Occhiogrosso, the president of the Bellingham-Whatcom Chamber of Commerce, said Monday the 14 stores that offered the at-par exchange rate on the Victoria Day weekend reported brisk sales with Canadians travelling across the border for bargains.
“From everything I have heard, it has been really successful,” said Occhiogrosso.
Next long weekend, he said, they may have a lot more businesses involved in giving Canadians goods at an exchange rate that is on par with the U.S. dollar. “We may look at doing a county-wide campaign,” he added.
He said retail stores have historically relied on large numbers of Canadians crossing the border to shop and eat and stay over during Canadian holidays.
“Traditionally on Canadian long weekends it is a substantial shopping day for Canadians to come south,” he said.
The stores at Bellis Fair Mall first offered their goods exchange-rate-free during the Easter long weekend.
Despite some Canadians taking to social media claiming stores involved in the promotion were not giving the exchange rate at par, Occhiogrosso said he had yet to hear the complaints. “From what I understand the retailers had to give it at par,” he said of the promotion.
Canadians have been a mainstay in places like Bellingham, about 84 kilometres from Vancouver and 35 km from the Peace Arch border crossing, when the Canadian dollar was stronger than it is now.
According to Bellis Fair, the retailers participating at this time are Macy’s, JCPenny, Just Sports, Go Grill, Beauty Nails, Blooming, Piercing Pagoda, Wishes, Brow Arc, Christopher and Banks, Express Japan, Thai Go & Noodle, The Children’s Place, and Villa Pizza.
Loni Rahm, president of Bellingham-Whatcom County Tourism, said that along with the 14 stores at Bellis Fair, four hotels also offered room rates at par.
Rahm said other businesses may join in on the deal during the Canada Day long weekend. “I suspect this is going to be a phenomena that catches on,” she said.
“It has been fabulous,” she said of the Canadian influx. “It was the right thing to do.”
