Christmas shopping : Magasinage de Noël : le bilan de 2006

Retail trade is one of the rare industries in Canada that operates in every city and town in Canada from the large nationwide retailers to the small corner store. [...] The $28.7 billion in retail sales2 in the last month of the year represented 11.2% of the total in 2006. [...] As in previous years, employment data from the LFS in the retail trade sector have trended upwards at the end of 2006 with November and December showing the highest levels for the year. [...] December sales highest in Toronto Of the three large cities in this study, December sales as a percentage of total retail sales were the highest in Toronto. [...] Overwhelmingly, the retailers with the largest boost in December 2006 in Toronto were those in the home electronics and appliance stores category, which sold 2.4 times the dollar value of the average January to November period.