Is Cross Border Shopping Worth Your Time?

Not sure if it’s because I’ve been living in Canada 25 years (this month in fact!)…almost as long as I lived in New York City. But, of course, you can take the woman out of New York City but you can’t take New York City out of the woman!

So much has been written lately about the Target stores coming to Canada. I can honestly say I am not a Target shopper, do not routinely shop there when I go back to New York or Florida to visit all of my friends and family and have never ever travelled to Buffalo just to shop in Target. In fact, except for two – maybe three times in 25 years – I have never gone across the border just to shop (although I do admit to shopping across the border if I am going to Hamburg or Rochester or Chittanango to visit friends and family).

An article in today’s Globe and Mail talked about the pricing between Walmart and Target here in the GTA and how they were comparable – with Walmart just nudging Target with a few lower prices. Big deal. Ho hum. But then the article went on to say that prices at Target in the states were still significantly lower than here in Canada and a few folks interviewed talked about still going to Buffalo to shop at the US Target.

Really? Is your time not worth anything? As a consultant, I am used to thinking in terms of per diem and hourly rates and my time is far too valuable to spend it travelling to Buffalo (it’s Buffalo for gosh sake!) to shop to save a few dollars or to buy that illusive bottle of nail polish not sold in Canada. Time aside, what about the gas expenditure or the food you have to buy (have you seen the food court at the outlet mall??? I wouldn’t eat there if you gave it to me for free).

But that’s beside the point. How about this? The next time you go to Buffalo specifically to shop, pay each and every worker you come across in each an every store an extra $3 to make up for the fact that the minimum wage in Buffalo is $3 an hour less than here in Toronto. Let’s see…how many employees are there at any given time in Target? In Walmart? In Coach? In Banana Republic? In The Gap? In Aeropostale? In Macy’s? Start multiplying that $3….how much are you saving again? Oh, and in that DSW store where you spend hours and stock up on shoes.

Time, gas, food, and $3 to each and every employee in each and every store. Not such a bargain after all. Hope you don’t fall ill and need to go to the emergency room…no universal health care there either. And just to continue…wonder what the square footage cost is for stores in Niagara Falls, New York vs. the GTA. Just sayin’. Now back to talent acquisition, career management and career transition blogging. Stay tuned.