Special events and the retail experience

Opinion. The views expressed are the author’s own.

This column was submitted on June 19, 2026.

The Shop Association Bulletin asked a question that all retailers ask themselves as a international event pop’s up in their local. Will retailers make money. Will the event bring out potential customers to buy often over priced spontaneous buys?

Consumers are fickle, often hard to target. A retailer faces all sorts of challenges should a event occur in their town or local. Say it is FIFA in Boston or Toronto. If the retailers is near the event consumers will surely visit the local and their place of business. Walking about viewing the merchandise a consumer will take all sorts of things into account.

Appearance of Product

Price of Product.

Availability of Product.

Retailers are consumer driven, so they will acquire large stock of these products, various sizes, colors and perhaps gender shapes. These purchases places the retailer in debt with the hope that most of their stock sells at full price. Usually they do not, and in short time will be placed on a discount level. Statistically the Canadian Retail Association claims seconds, after price items will stick around for a very long time taking up space and staffing labor. Each retailers expects a 15-20% loss on items they have imported with most landing on the “gotta get rid of” table. The smaller the retailers the more astute they need to be, picking the right merchandise with after event sales always on the mind.

The Olympics as an example bring retailers an opportunity to sell. Bring the “right” merchandise into the store and their customary products could sell full price as well. That is the ticket, to sell these products at the full price. Special events like Christmas bring into the retailer consumers who normally would not visit their local. An opportunity to shine as customer service professionals allows a retailer the ability to establish regular visitors. A restaurant survives not on spontaneous cliental but on regulars.

Special events bring with them an opportunity to sell big time over a short period of time. The costs to do so include extra stock, extra staffing and labor, more security required and the chance of a higher level of thievery. All costs that can anticipate the establishments survival, especially if it is a “Mom & Pop” establishment.

Will Toronto’s Retailers make off like bandits because of the FIFA Events? Some will while others will lose their shirts. The game of competitive retail is often a business whose brand lasts but a few years.

Steven Kaszab lives in Bradford, Ont.