US businesses lure flush Canadians

MONTREAL — As their country undergoes a debt-fuelled gut-check that may vault it into recession, some small business owners in the United States are taking unprecedented steps to charm a breed of consumers who have largely kept their wallets open amid the growing economic uncertainty — Canadians.

Faced with a reluctant U.S. consumer and desperate to draw people beyond the big-name box stores such as Wal-Mart, small businesses along the Canadian border are going through extraordinary measures to lure Canadian shoppers south.

In the Plattsburgh, N.Y. region bordering Quebec, some 25 local business have set up a website that features the latest border wait times, price comparisons between goods sold in Quebec and New York and advice on where to find the cheapest gas. The site is translated continuously into French.

Area business owners and restaurants are also using French-English electronic translators to be able to communicate with Quebec shoppers who show up at their establishments. And they’re putting Quebec fleur-de-lis flags in their windows to welcome them.

“The idea is to try to generate some new revenue for the local economy by trying to attract the Canadians,” said Kim Rowe Manion, coordinator of the goplattsburgh.com project. “It’s trying to get people out into local businesses.”

The effort is just one of several attempts by political and business leaders to look north as U.S. consumers pare back their discretionary purchases. Government data this month showed U.S. consumer spending dropped in June for the first time in 20 months.

In Burlington, Vt., city council this week passed a resolution recommending French and English signage and encouraging workers in the tourism sector to become more bilingual. The move, which is intended to improve understanding for Quebecers on everything from restaurant menus to highway exit guideposts, will not be enforced and so it remains symbolic. Burlington, which is roughly an hour and a half drive from Montreal, is not funding the initiative.

A strong Canadian dollar and increased spending by Canadian consumers have lured many U.S. retailers such as Target north. But smaller U.S. businesses that are unable to set up in Canada or can’t sell through the Internet are scrambling harder than ever to lure shoppers south.

The loonie closed Wednesday at 99.48 cents per U.S. dollar. One Canadian dollar buys US$1.0052.

For years, U.S. retailers in Washington State and other places have set up big facilities near the border and launched advertising campaigns to seduce Canadian shoppers. But a sputtering U.S. economy and the loss of local employment has many of them redoubling their efforts.

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