How to Xmas Shop this Year: A Quick Guide for Student’s
By: Maria Garcia Manzano, AIEC of the Quill
Since Manitoba has new restrictions and retailers are currently not allowed to sell non-essential goods in-person, here at the Quill we’ve come up with some alternatives for students to complete their Xmas shopping. These are hard times and with the first semester coming to an end many will be beginning to wonder where they can shop for family and friends given the current situation. In my case I began writing a list of all the presents I needed to buy and started shopping early. I did this because Canada Post announced in the beginning of October that gifts must be ordered early this year because they were expecting high volumes of packages and partnered with the Pandemic, delivery times might be delayed. Thus, I am almost done my Xmas shopping and I am currently tracking my packages obsessively.
However, if before this week you had not began to think about Xmas presents and are now wondering whether your packages will arrive in time, do not panic. There is still plenty of time to order gifts and have them delivered before Xmas. Furthermore, there are alternatives to having your presents shipped to you. Brandon has a variety of stores and while all of them cannot currently sell non-essential goods in person, they can deliver locally or have curbside pickup.
An example of one location is The Shoppers Mall as it has many stores offering curbside pickup and have designated many parking spots throughout the different parking sections for this purpose. (See picture attached at the end.) Therefore, you can shop online through one of the stores located at shoppers and in order to do curbside pickup, when you reach the checkout area make sure to select “pickup at store”. I have used curbside pickup for a few of my presents and it is a simple and fast way to get your gifts. All you need to do is call the store once your package is ready to be picked up, give your name, order number and your vehicle make and your package will be brought out to you and placed beside your vehicle. This is a fast and easy alternative to having your package shipped to you because depending on when you placed your order you are able to pick it up 1-2 hrs after placing your order. As I mentioned before, Shoppers Mall is one example as there are other stores that are offering this service.
If you would like to shop locally and support local Brandon businesses many are offering local delivery and curbside pickup. The process is slightly different as many have not yet set up their websites, however you can call the store and place your order. A complete list of local businesses offering these services can be found at: https://starfm.ca/trending-online/trending-blogs/we-love-local-blog. However, if you would like to instead gift homemade presents or goodie baskets these can also be achieved by using curbside pickup. Michael’s offers curbside pickup and you can buy a variety of arts & crafts supplies to make your homemade presents. As for the goodie baskets, snacks and other candies are considered essential goods so all you would need to do is find a basket/box to place your goodies in and fill it with delicious snacks.
Photo Credits: Shoppersmallbrandon.com