Businesses face stiff competition for price-sensitive holiday shoppers In a survey of 2,500 Canadian consumers, 71 per cent said they are changing their shopping habits to keep a tighter grip on their budgets, including by waiting to make purchases only when they find the best sale Susan Krashinsky Robertson, The Globe and Mail Nov 26, 2024 1:30 PM Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message While 'early Black Friday' sales are nothing new, stores are attempting to send the message that customers do not have to wait until the real Black Friday on Nov. 29 to find the best promotions. Rob Kruyt, BIV Listen to this article 00:06:38 In any year, the holiday season is a pivotal, make-or-break time for many businesses. But this year, while retailers are working even harder to entice consumers to get in the spending spirit, a number of factors are conspiring to keep Canadian shoppers at bay. First, there is the general consumer malaise: Many people have already been struggling with the high cost of living after unusually high inflation and interest-rate hikes in recent years. In addition, the continuing Canada Post strike may be discouraging those who like to check off their “nice” lists online, for fear that gifts may not arrive in time. Others may be waiting for better deals: this week’s Black Friday discount bonanza falls later in the calendar than usual this year. And for certain items affected by the federal government’s recent announcement of a moratorium on sales taxes – which does not begin until Dec. 14 – shoppers have even more incentive to delay their purchases. In short, price-sensitive shoppers are looking for deals, putting pressure on businesses to compete. “Retailers in Canada are nervous about this holiday season,” said Marty Weintraub, national retail consulting leader at Deloitte Canada. He added: “I do think it’s going to be a pretty hot post-Black Friday shopping season, and retailers are going to have to fight extra hard to get their share.” In its annual Holiday Retail Outlook study, Deloitte predicted that Canadians will on average spend $1,478 this festive season. That represents a 10-per-cent increase compared with last year, but it is still well below prepandemic spending. And people are picking and choosing where their money goes: while Deloitte expects spending on travel and charitable giving to grow significantly, the report predicts gift spending to rise just 4 per cent – only modestly outpacing inflation. “Things cost more. So it’s not necessarily buying more stuff, they just have to spend more money to get said stuff,” Mr. Weintraub said. Retailers have been responding by advertising their discounts – and starting early. While “early Black Friday” sales are nothing new, stores are attempting to send the message that customers do not have to wait until the real Black Friday on Nov. 29 to find the best promotions. Montreal-based outdoor e-commerce retailer Altitude Sports, for example, is advertising Black Friday pricing on more than 3,600 products on its website, with a price-matching guarantee that applies if a customer finds a better price – whether on a competitor’s site or Altitude’s own site – through a later deal. This is important because Altitude’s customer service line has been fielding questions about whether deeper discounts are still to come. “People are calling to know, what will the deals be on Black Friday? Should I wait?” Altitude’s co-chief executive officer, Maxime Dubois, said in an interview. He added that “for retailers, it adds pressure, because people have been trained to know that Black Friday is the time of year when they should act.” Retailers do not want shoppers to wait, for a couple of reasons. First, healthy sales volumes earlier in the season give companies more certainty, knowing that the holidays are going to go well, Mr. Dubois said. And having a “smoother sales curve” is more cost-efficient than having to process a massive surge of orders during the few days between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, he added. The draw of discounts is significant. Altitude also operates a website for clearance sales, called the Last Hunt: While it is a much smaller business, its sales growth has outpaced the larger website in recent years, giving a signal as to just how price-sensitive Canadian consumers have become. It’s not the only online discounter that is gaining traction: Deloitte’s research showed roughly one-third of Canadians are considering doing some of their holiday shopping on global marketplaces such as Temu and Shein, a higher number than in previous years. “That’s not a coincidence,” Deloitte’s Mr. Weintraub said. “It’s because a lot of these marketplaces offer value.” In a survey of 2,500 Canadian shoppers, conducted by research firm Leger for the Retail Council of Canada, 71 per cent said they are changing their shopping habits to keep a tighter grip on their budgets, including by waiting to make purchases only when they find the best sales. Toys “R” Us Canada has added to its usual promotional plans this year, making the sale pricing available in its annual “toy book” valid for three weeks instead of the usual two. Every weekend from October through December, the retailer is also offering additional “weekend deals” on selected products, a program that is new this year. It is intended to help Toys “R” Us “to remain top of mind, to get on to the consideration list of the shopper and to make sure that they are looking at what we have to offer,” said Allyson Banks, the retailer’s marketing director. Indigo Books & Music Inc. IDG-T has also been hosting events to try to prompt visits to its stores, including a 10,000 book giveaway in September. Last Saturday, Indigo advertised copies of Wicked – the novel inspired by L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and the basis for the hit musical and new movie – for $10 with any book purchase. But chief marketing officer Andrew Sutherland acknowledged in a statement that there is only so much early shopping that customers are willing to do. “Roughly 80 per cent of holiday shopping dollars are spent between Black Friday and Christmas, so a lost week puts a lot of pressure on all areas of the business,” he said in a statement. “Most critically, you’re pushing significant increases in customer traffic through a much tighter window, so the demands on our retail operations teams are intense.” Retailers usually start to see customers pull back on purchases as early as October, knowing that better promotions are coming soon, Leon’s Furniture LNF-T president Lewis Leon said in an interview. Last year, the company was caught out waiting to launch its Black Friday sales in mid-November, and had to change marketing plans on the fly when other retailers moved much earlier. This year, the stores began sales at the beginning of the month, and will continue offering those same discounts through the first week of December. For retailers competing for price-conscious shoppers, the idea of discounts pegged to a certain day or a single weekend is a thing of the past. “It really stretches for maybe four or five weeks, now, the Black Friday promotion,” Mr. Leon said. See a typo/mistake? Have a story/tip? This has been shared 0 times 0 Shares Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message Get your daily Victoria news briefing Email Sign Up More Retail & Manufacturing Vancouver Island retailers take stock of federal government's GST holiday Nov 25, 2024 5:45 AM Shorter holiday shopping season ups pressure on retailers and consumers Nov 25, 2024 1:00 AM West Coast retailers place stock in potential of AI Nov 22, 2024 4:00 PMRA Capital Management Announces Close of $1.4 Billion Acquisition of Aliada Therapeutics by AbbVie
{ "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "NewsArticle", "dateCreated": "2024-12-28T14:20:20+02:00", "datePublished": "2024-12-28T14:20:20+02:00", "dateModified": "2024-12-28T14:55:17+02:00", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/22901/news/education/100-days-100-stories-new-book-captures-defining-moment-in-rwandas-history-tackles-genocide-denial", "headline": "100 Days, 100 Stories: New book captures ‘defining moment’ in Rwandas history, tackles genocide denial", "description": "To challenge genocide denial narratives through authentic stories of first-hand experiences during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, a...", "keywords": "", "inLanguage": "en", "mainEntityOfPage":{ "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/22901/news/education/100-days-100-stories-new-book-captures-defining-moment-in-rwandas-history-tackles-genocide-denial" }, "thumbnailUrl": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/thenewtimes/uploads/images/2024/12/28/67400.jpeg", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/thenewtimes/uploads/images/2024/12/28/67400.jpeg" }, "articleBody": "To challenge genocide denial narratives through authentic stories of first-hand experiences during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, a genocide survivor published a new book titled “100 Days, 100 Stories: Rwandan Voices on the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi.” ALSO READ: Linda Melvern’s new book exposes patterns of Genocide denial Jo Ingabire Moys, a genocide survivor, writer, and film director, led the project as co-writer and editor. The project put together 100 stories from people of diverse ages and backgrounds, each recounting their experiences related to the 1994 Genocide. ALSO READ: Genocide survivor on writing her story to help Rwandans heal The book, conceived as a response to genocide denialism, seeks to preserve memory and inspire hope through shared testimonies. For Ingabire, the volume is more than a compilation of stories but a profound reflection of Rwanda’s collective history. ALSO READ: Grace Uwamahoro honoured for saving Tutsi child “This project is important to me because it captures a defining moment in my people’s history,” Ingabire said. “The genocide against the Tutsi happened when I was five years old, and I needed to understand it as an adult. There are many interesting and reliable resources available on the topic but none beats sitting down with a person, looking them in the eye as they share their personal experience.” Ingabire said that the narrative in the book not only reflects the tragedy of the genocide but also the resilience and hope of Rwandans. According to her, rather than following a linear or chronological approach, contributors were encouraged to focus on moments from their past, present, or future. This creative freedom allowed contributors to choose the form their story took, she said. ALSO READ: A closer look at post-Genocide Rwanda’s Chief Justices She underscored the inclusive storytelling in the book as it incorporates voices from all walks of life. “The book contains stories from Rwandans from all walks of life: survivors, their children, perpetrators and their children, rescuers, bystanders, returnees, and those in the diaspora. It also includes contributions from individuals previously referred to as the Twa,” she explained. ALSO READ: A form of genocide denial that is an insult to Hutu “This inclusivity ensures that the book covers Rwanda’s journey over the past 30 years in a meaningful way. I hope that the readers will appreciate the complexity of life as a Rwandan in light of such a tragedy but also learn of the hopes of the people as they rebuild an identity beyond war and conflict.” Bernard Makuza Ingabire worked closely with institutions like Ibuka, an umbrella organisation for genocide survivors’ associations, to gather survivors' testimonies. ALSO READ: How Ex-Habyarimana soldier risked his life to rescue Tutsi during Genocide “We also tapped into our networks in Rwanda and abroad to find interesting and authentic voices that would give historical context to the collection,” she added. “For instance, we have a story from former Prime Minister [March 2000 to October 2011] Honourable Bernard Makuza and justice campaigner Dafroza [Mukarumongi] Gauthier. We have stories from the city and the countryside, from people who would remember the 1959 revolution to those born after 1994.” ALSO READ: How clergy celebrated Tutsi massacres from All Saints’ Day 1959 to Genocide 1994 1959 is the year the first anti-Tutsi pogroms erupted. November 1, 1959, marked the genesis of an unstable Rwanda, when hundreds of thousands of the Tutsi were killed and millions displaced and forced to flee to neighbouring countries. An excerpt of Makuza’s story, in the book, reads: “On the night of April 6th 1994, I got a call fromPrime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana. She had just heard the news that President Habyarimana’s plane had crashed. She wanted me, her senior adviser, and her other adviser, Ignacius Magorane, to prepare a speech that she would deliver the next day. “She was her usual calm, confident self. She convinced me that although losing the head of state was shocking, we would be safe because the UN were deployed strategically across Kigali. I believed her.” ALSO READ: Agathe Uwiringiyimana, a hero whose entire political career had seen constant threats According to Makuza’s account, Uwilingiyimana knew better than most the dangers “people like us faced.” “As members of the moderate section of the opposition Republican Democratic Movement (MDR), we were seen as traitors by the government and therefore to the Hutu cause. For two years, moderate members of the MDR and other opposition parties had been ‘disappearing’. Many were accused of being ‘inyenzi’.” By that point, Makuza recounted, Habyarimana had been in power for 20 years, and he could no longer hide the long-term effects of the corruption, nepotism and ineptitude of his government. “His regime was driven by divisions and extremism based not just on ethnicity but also on faith and regionalism. Thus, anyone who had a role in government didn’t believe the propaganda being fed to the masses that the country was failing because of Tutsi.” ALSO READ: Habyarimana's role in planning, implementing 1994 Genocide “We knew that we risked our very lives by publicly opposing the governing party, the National Revolutionary Movement for Development (MRND), as well as the Hutu Power section of the MDR party and others with similar extremist ideologies such as the CDR. But we also knew that it was the right thing to do. I had not been raised with these ideologies of hating other people because of their perceived differences.” ALSO READ: My quest is to speak for the voiceless, says Gauthier Besides Makuza and Dafroza, the 242-page volume also has accounts from people like traditional music icon Maria Yohana Mukankuranga, Celine Uwineza, another survivor and author, and Domitilla Mukantaganzwa, the new Chief Justice of Rwanda. By presenting diverse narratives including those from genocide perpetrators, the book confronts genocide deniers’ narratives and exposes how denialism often contradicts historical facts. Tackling denialism head-on “One of the reasons we wanted this book to carry stories from different experiences was to tackle denialism head-on. This is why I chose to include perpetrators’ stories. It was not only to have them acknowledge their role; what I discovered during the story collection is that most of them, even those who were repentant and served their sentences, had revised the truth to find a narrative that they could live with,” she said. “For instance, one woman, infamous for her role in the massacres presented herself as a victim although she was also on record admitting her crimes. But when the story collector, who happened to be a friend she knew before the genocide, challenged her account, she would quickly go back to telling the truth.” ALSO READ: Killing many in a short period; how civilians were prepared for the Genocide Genocide denial, Ingabire added, is prevalent in the diaspora, not necessarily as a political stance but sometimes as a coping mechanism. Her book aims to illuminate such complexities while reaffirming the historical truth. According to Ingabire, the collection, which also includes stories from prominent figures such as Makuza and justice campaigner Dafroza Gauthier, is envisioned as a vital educational tool. Through collaboration with Ishami Foundation which focuses on genocide and Holocaust education, she hopes the book will contribute to genocide education. ‘It can strengthen unity’ Catholic Nun Sr. Marie Josepha Mukabayire, a survivor of the 1994 genocide has also written a book on her life story before, during and after the genocide. Mukabayire who launched her book in Ghana about three months ago told The New Times that sharing personal stories, be it from survivors or perpetrators plays a crucial role in strengthening unity and challenging genocide denialism. She said, “Getting together to tell the story, whether from the perspective of genocide perpetrators, or the survivors, offers an opportunity for people to learn from them. It can strengthen unity.” “Reading the story of a survivor or a perpetrator could challenge those who deny the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. Maybe it could help change their perspective.” Mukabayire said that people have to live together and embrace the culture of sharing testimonies as it would result in forgiveness. “We have to live together. And somehow, it's good to hear from people who killed others, telling us how they killed people, what they feel now, and how they see the future. 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ORLANDO, Fla. — It was a season of Iowa State comebacks. And fittingly, that's how it ended for the Cyclones. Game MVP Rocco Becht scored from a yard out on fourth-and-goal with 56 seconds remaining and No. 18 Iowa State capped the best season in school history by rallying past No. 15 Miami 42-41 in the Pop-Tarts Bowl on Saturday. Becht finished with 270 passing yards and three touchdowns for Iowa State (11-2), a program that entered this season — the 133rd year of Cyclone football — never having won more than nine games in a year. “If you look at this team, it’s really who they’ve been all year,” coach Matt Campbell said. The win marked the fourth time in 2024 that Iowa State got a winning score with less than two minutes remaining. For this one, the Cyclones rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half — with Miami quarterback Cam Ward watching after a record-setting first half — to get win No. 11. Carson Hansen rushed for a pair of touchdowns for Iowa State. And as the MVP, Becht got the honor of choosing which flavor Pop-Tart was to be sacrificed in a giant toaster. “There's only one,” Becht said. “Cinnamon roll.” Ward passed for three touchdowns in his final college game, while Damien Martinez rushed for a career-high 179 yards for Miami (10-3), which dropped its sixth straight bowl game and lost three of four games to end the season — those three losses by a combined 10 points. "Disappointed that we couldn't pull out a victory," Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “These guys have always fought and always competed and this was no exception. ... It's painful. It's as painful as it gets when you don't win. But there's a lot to build on.” NEBRASKA 20, BOSTON COLLEGE 15: Dylan Raiola passed for 228 yards and a touchdown as Nebraska built an 18-point lead through three quarters and hung on for its first bowl victory since 2015. Raiola hit Emmett Johnson with a 13-yard TD pass on fourth down with 3:02 remaining in the third quarter for a 20-2 edge and the Cornhuskers (7-6) held on for the win at Yankee Stadium. Raiola completed 23 of 31 passes in front of a sizable Nebraska crowd that celebrated the team's first bowl win since topping UCLA in the 2015 Foster Farms Bowl and first winning season since 2016. Raiola completed passes to 10 receivers, including Jahmal Banks, who finished with four receptions for 79 yards. Grayson James finished 25 of 40 for 296 yards as Boston College (7-6). MILITARY BOWL EAST CAROLINA 26, NC STATE 21: Rahjai Harris broke free for an 86-yard touchdown run with 1:33 remaining, giving East Carolina a pulsating victory over NC State in the Military Bowl in a game that descended into a wild brawl in the final minute in Annapolis, Md. Harris had 220 of ECU's 326 yards rushing, and his sensational sprint near the end of the game gave the Pirates (8-5) the lead back after they'd blown a 13-point advantage in the fourth. But after an interception by Dontavius Nash ended NC State's final drive, East Carolina's attempt to run out the clock was interrupted by large-scale fight between the two in-state rivals — who play each other again to start next season. Three players for ECU and five for NC State (6-7) were ejected. ECU trailed 21-20 and took over the ball at its own 14, and after two incompletions, the Pirates decided to run the ball with Harris. He had a good hole to the left for a big gain, then cut back past the final defender on his way to the end zone. ARIZONA BOWL MIAMI (OHIO) 43, COLORADO STATE 17: Kevin Davis had a career-high 148 yards rushing and two touchdowns on just nine carries, and Jordan Brunson also ran for two TDs to help Miami (Ohio) wrapped the season at 9-5 by beating Colorado State (8-5) in Tucson, Ariz. Davis scored on a 4-yard run with 12:35 left in the third quarter, Matt Salopek forced a fumble that was recovered by Silas Walters and quarterback Brett Gabbert's first rushing touchdown of the season — a 10-yard scramble that capped a 47-yard drive — made it 22-3 about 2 minutes later. UCONN 27, NORTH CAROLINA 14: Joe Fagnano threw for 151 yards and two touchdowns to help the Huskies (9-4) beat the Tar Heels (6-7) at Fenway Park, embarrassing incoming coach Bill Belichick's new team in his old backyard. Mel Brown rushed for 96 yards for UConn and Skyler Bell caught three passes for 77 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown that gave the Huskies a 10-0 first-quarter lead. Chris Culliver returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown, but that would be Carolina's only production in the first half. TCU 34, LOUISIANA 3: Josh Hoover passed for four touchdowns as the Horned Frogs (9-4) routed the Ragin' Cajuns (10-4) in Albuquerque. Hoover was 20 for 32 for 252 yards with an interception. Eric McAlister had eight catches for 87 yards and a TD for the Horned Frogs. TCU's defense also had a solid day, holding Louisiana-Lafayette to 209 yards, including 61 on the game's final possession. LATE FRIDAY LAS VEGAS BOWL USC 35, TEXAS A&M 31: Jayden Maiava threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to tight end Kyle Ford with eight seconds left to give Southern California the victory over Texas A&M (8-5) in the Las Vegas Bowl. A graduate of Liberty High School in nearby Henderson and a transfer from UNLV, Maiava helped the Trojans (7-6) overcome a 17-point deficit.