August means back to school shopping is underway.

Many people may be choosing the Millcreek Mall to get their clothing and shoes, but does that include our Canadians neighbors?


John Oliver, the President and CEO of VisitErie explained, "We are continuing to see a decrease in Canadian visitation. We are monitoring bridge crossings up in Western New York from Canada and we are seeing a continued month after month decrease compared to previous years."


Oliver said it's not a surprise that visitation was down between fifteen and twenty percent and it's not just isolated to Erie. "What we are seeing is nationwide, Canadians are not just coming to the U.S. There is no trade deal yet and I think there is some real resentment that we are hearing from Canadians of the suggestion by some that they ought to become our 51st state and I think that has sparked that they have decided to vacation in their own home country", explained Oliver.


The Millcreek Mall relies on Canadians especially during busy shopping seasons and mall officials said they have seen a slight up tick in traffic, but it's no where near what they are used to.
Joe Bell, the Millcreek Mall spokesperson said, "They have seemed to have returned to a steady stream. Not the great deluge we have seen in the past. I think there is a slow ramping up of Canadian interest in shopping in the United States that may change when we get into August here."


Bell said  they will be relying on people shopping from other states in addition to Canadians and local residents for the upcoming busy shopping seasons. As Bell explained, "A lot of states don't have the advantage of Pennsylvania which has no tax on clothing but in neighboring Ohio there is and Ohio recently expanded its sales tax holiday from just a couple days to fourteen days from August 1-14, so they are essentially trying to compete with Pennsylvania and get those same consumer dollars and I think the net will be savings for consumers no matter which side of the state line you do our purchasing."


Bell said that besides the holiday shopping season, back to school shopping falls right behind and they are anticipating a busy few weeks ahead of the mad rush of the holidays.