Canadian retailers angling for Black Friday shoppers

TORONTO - It's Black Friday in the United States -- otherwise known as the busiest shopping day of the year.

But the shopping season began much earlier this time, with at least a dozen big chains from Macy's to Gap to Target opening Thursday on U.S. Thanksgiving.

Here in Canada, retailers are trying to cash in on the shopping phenomenon with their own sales and deals almost as good as the ones across the border.

The Canadian Press compared some Black Friday flyer prices from the U.S. and Canada and found some bargains.

The discounts were deeper at Walmart in the U.S. than Walmart Canada while Target Canada's TV doorcrasher looks a little better in the U.S.

Some of the deals Amazon.ca is highlighting are better priced in the U.S.

Overall in the U.S, retail sales are expected to be up 3.9 per cent to $602.1 billion during the last two months of the year.

• 

  Best Buy employee Christopher Gervais, right, rings up an Xbox One game console on Black Friday early Nov. 29, 2013, in Dunwoody, Ga. All of the store's 120 employees were on hand to ring up items when the store opened for business on Thanksgiving Day. (AP Photo/David Tulis)