Whether you were in a store, in the parking lot or watching from afar, you probably know Boxing Day at CrossIron Mills was another busy event for local retailers.

"This year we were right around 63,000 people," said General Manager James Moller. "That's a slight increase over last year which was about 62 [thousand], about a thousand or 1,200 more than last year."

Moller said the mall was well prepared for the onslaught of shoppers, with some managers and employees at the store by midnight to set up.

"Some customers started arriving around five. We had a couple of the stores open at 6:00am, although the mall was technically open at 8 o'clock."

Many people not only had trouble finding parking on Boxing Day, but just getting to the mall from Southbound QE2 was an adventure. Vehicles were lined up approaching Stoney Trail from the exit to the 566.

While the 63,000 shoppers this year is more than last year, those numbers were once in the 70,000 range but have decreased over the last few years. Moller said that it's not because of changes in the economy.

"Ever since the last few years of Black Friday, that number has kind of gone down. Black Friday has taken a little bit of that shopping momentum off and now Boxing Day has settled into that mid to low 60 thousand."

Experts say that the rise in popularity over online shopping has also led to less shoppers heading to the mall.

 

Questions, comments or story ideas? Email us at news@discoverairdrie.com