Traffic controllers directing Boxing Day shoppers through Mayfair Shopping Centre’s overflowing parking lot on Thursday had their work cut out for them.
“It’s totally nuts,” said Peter Beasley. “Traffic everywhere. People crossing anywhere they want to. Cars are going. [You] tell them to stop, they just keep on going.”
Standing at various intersections, professional flaggers directed motorists into a maze of parking stalls, but said the lack of patience and care on the part of some motorists was concerning.
“They have no consideration for pedestrians at all — at all,” Beasley said.
Victoria police reported no crashes as of late Thursday afternoon.
From the traffic inside and outside the mall on Thursday, online shopping and pre-Christmas sales clearly haven’t eradicated Boxing Day sales.
Amna Rathore and Julia Brewer were headed to Sephora in the mall to check out 20 per cent off sales and maybe use the gift cards they received for Christmas. At times, there was a lineup into the cosmetic store.
Other cosmetic counters, such as MAC at Hudson’s Bay, offered 25 per cent off.
Rathore said she took advantage of online Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales in November, but because she mostly shops online, she saw her outing on Thursday as a chance to socialize.
The young women weren’t daunted by the in-store shopping crowds, but wanted no part of the mayhem outside in the parking lot, which they said was “way busier” than anticipated: “We parked in the street to avoid coming into the parking lot,” Brewer said.
Tim O’Brien, with Janet Stitt, said a traffic controller directed him into “rock-star” parking near an entrance, so he felt he had won the day before he had even snagged a sale: “It was like having a parking pass.”
A fan of people-watching, O’Brien said you can’t let “the mayhem get the best of you.” He was eyeing a pair of boots on sale at Hudson’s Bay.
Former New York Rangers defenceman — and former Victoria Salmon Kings player — Dale Purinton waxed philosophical about the myriad teachable moments to be had while shopping the Boxing Day sales with his three boys — Vaughn, 13, Brando, 12, and Hagan, 10.
The Shawnigan Lake family’s Christmas traditions include popping into Habitat for Humanity’s Gingerbread Showcase at the Parkside Hotel in downtown Victoria, then hitting the Boxing Day sales to pick up items Santa might have forgotten. “It’s exciting for them and you learn lots from it, too,” said Purinton.
Purinton said his boys learn how to shop, along with math skills in sticking to a budget and human skills in crowds — learning to exercise patience and courtesy and to compromise.
“There’s just so many life lessons when you bring them into these different situations.”
As for parking, Purinton said he parked on the street, since people with mobility problems need the mall stalls more than he does and avoiding the lot means avoiding unnecessary frustration.
