Trois-Rivières dealers face a major challenge this year as they desperately try to meet customer demand with few employees.
With Christmas only 10 days away, store traffic is increasing. Unlike in previous years, many shops are still not open until 9 p.m. in mid-December.
“We have decided to only open until 9 p.m. from next week to relieve our employees,” explains the manager of the L’entre-Jeux branch in Trois-Rivières, Karine Germain.
As of next week, Luxédor Jewelery will need to extend the postal workers’ roster somewhat, said the owner, Alexandre Alarie.
At Sports Expert, the opening times for the holiday season did not start on December 1st, but on December 12th this year.
“The first few weeks are never really crowded in the evenings. Given the shortage of staff, or reduced staffing if you will, we were very happy to start a little later,” assured Brunelle Group operations manager Georges Brunelle.
The same decision was made by the owners of the Les Rivières shopping center in Trois-Rivières. “We follow the instructions of our retailers,” replied Daniel Durand, vice president of marketing and communications at Groupe Mach, which owns the mall.
For others, closing later for the holidays is simply not an option. This also applies to the Boutique de la Balayeuse in Trois-Rivières, which has to close its doors every day at 6 p.m. due to a lack of staff.
When traffic is sometimes slow for merchants, online shopping is becoming more and more popular.
“At this time of year, a lot of people will shop online, but show up at the store to look at their selection, see if there’s a discount or not, look at the colors, touch the product, see if it’s really the same,” added Mr .Brunelle added.
Also this year, the mall is a popular destination for consumers. “It’s a very different experience than online shopping. You can see the products, touch the products and compare them,” argued Mr. Durand.
Note that Les Rivières center has up to 15% more visitors than in 2021.