It was Christmas in October from Oct. 26 – Oct. 29 in Moose Jaw’s downtown core, kicking off the holiday shopping season. 

Thirty-two businesses participated in the #NotoriouslyCharming Christmas Wish Book, which gave shoppers ideas for gifts at downtown locations.  

Many of the businesses extended their shopping hours over the four-day period to encourage later shoppers. 

Different businesses had different experiences when it came to sales during the event. “Some said their sales were down slightly compared to last year – one business said they were down about 10 per cent. We had others say that they are markedly ahead of where they were last year, and it's really been a bit of a mixed bag,” said Craig Hemingway, marketing coordinator with the Downtown Moose Jaw Association and manager of communications and stakeholder relations for the City of Moose Jaw. 

“It's hard to know how much, you know, some of the icy weather may have kept people from wanting to travel too far and some of that out-of-town traffic to get here. But overall, it seems like it was a pretty good Christmas in October weekend,” he added. 

While the holiday lights were up and turned on for Christmas in October, Hemingway says that City crews will be working to turn them off. “It takes crews to go out and actually physically unplug the lights and we can be dealing with other infrastructure emergencies as well, which takes away some of that manpower.” 

The lights will be turned on again after Remembrance Day.

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