Should we STOP cross border shopping?

You hear them talk about their cross border deals all the time. Scored a Micheal Kors watch for next to nothing, or kids clothes that were cuter than at home. We as Canadians have grown up with the knowledge that shopping is not only better but it is cheaper south of the border in the USA.

I too thought that was the case. I mean I have been calculating the duties and exchange on my JCREW catalogue since I was a teen. But all that changed recently when I happened to be on the gap.com website instead of the gapcanada.com site.

I was linking up a striped tee for one of my outfit posts and noticed that the price was EXACTLY the same as the Canadian price. I thought to myself when did that happen?

My husband didn’t believe that the prices had harmonized, but thought there was a build in exchange bringing the price to the Canadian equivalent. Because even though our dollar has been at par or better than the US dollar for years, we always paid more. So we checked it out at a GAP store in NY state this past weekend. And there was the price, the same as the Canadian price, staring back at me.

This got me thinking if US prices have harmonized upwards to the Canadian prices should we as Canadians STOP cross border shopping all together?

There are two big reasons people cite when they head down to the US on a shopping trip.

1. They can shop for less because everything is just cheaper in the United States.
2. They can find different things then they can at home because the stores are different.

Madewell; one of the few mall stores we don’t have in Toronto, but easily shoppable online.

When I was a kid and we would go to Florida we used to shop up a storm. This was before stores like the GAP had penetrated Canada much beyond Toronto and Winners didn’t exist yet. It meant that everywhere from Mall stores to Target, Marshalls and Ross Dress for Less were not only offering clothing and stuff we couldn’t find at home but back then our dollar was worth much less and still we had more buying power.

This is no longer the case.

First, as my opening GAP comparison shows us, prices have harmonized. I wondered through the Westchester, a premium mall in White Plains New York, and only once found something cheaper than here in Toronto (a pair of premium denim) and it wasn’t significantly so.

I even checked my JCREW catalogue; the majority of the US prices were EXACTLY the same as those on the Canadian JCREW website. In order to warrant paying for a hotel, meals you have to be getting a great deal.

Waterloo Premium Outlets; do you see many shops we don’t have here?

Second with so many US retailers setting up shop north of the border, gone are the days of finding something really unique at Outlet Malls and shops just across the border. Many of the outlet stores and mall stores we now have here in Toronto. Ann Taylor, Loft, JCREW, Anthropologie have all opened stores here in the last 5 years.

Even JCREW, Banana Republic & Gap outlets can be found at Vaughan Mills. If you are crossing the border for Neiman Marcus Last Call or any of the premium outlets check out Holt Renfrew Last call or any of the designer Consignment shops in Toronto. This will be even more the case when we get our own Premium Outlet Mall near Milton in 2013.

Even the outlet prices start the same as in Canada. I shopped at Carters for my kids and the prices were the same at Kohls as at the outlet mall. I venture that the same 50% sale was running here at the Carters store at Heartland Town Center or Vaughn Mills. The base price is the same price we have at Costco or a Carters store.

So what does this mean? Should we stop lining up at the border for a girls shopping weekend? Maybe … it depends what you motivation is.

If you are going for deals you might want to stop and consider that you can get the same deals at home and support local businesses.

If you are going for a fun weekend, then by all means, have a great vacation.

If you are looking for something different from what you can find at home, consider sticking to online shopping or venture further afield than Buffalo. Major cities are going to have more boutiques and international brands that we don’t have here. And the further south you go to more local chains you will find.

Still consider the next time you plan a cross border shopping trip if the store you want to shop is here at home or that paying duties and a small shipping charge (or scoring free shipping) is cheaper than a hotel, gas and meals.