The countdown is on.
Wednesday marks one month until Christmas. That leaves just 30 days for holiday shopping and London retailers say they are ready for their busiest time of the year.
"We expect to be busier than last year, both with sales and people," says Jeff Wilson, general manager of White Oaks Mall. "There are signs the economy has turned around a little bit in the last year. We had some growth from the previous year last year as well. So we are on an upward trend and expect that to continue."
The holiday rush began last weekend as the city's first snowfall sent Londoners into the mall for winter wear such as jackets, hats, gloves, and boots. But the real kickoff comes Friday, as Canadians, mimicking their American counterparts, head to retailers for Black Friday deals.
"Boxing Day is the actual busiest day of the year and in the last three years Black Friday has become the second busiest. It use to be Boxing Day and December 23, now it's Boxing Day and Black Friday," says Wilson.
Coincidently, White Oaks Mall will also begin its extended holiday hours on Friday, keeping the mall open an extra half an hour Monday through Saturday and an extra three hours on Sunday.
Statistics Canada reported Canadians spent $18.9-billion online in 2012, as internet businesses caught the eyes of shoppers, driving business away from traditional brick and mortar stores.
Wilson says thus far the south London mall as been unaffected by online stores.
"Our traffic numbers are up, they have been up every year for the last ten years at least, so we haven't had any physical decrease in the number of people coming into the mall," says Wilson. "Retailers are adapting and changing how they offer their product. The unique thing we find is in a fashion centre people like to touch and feel and try on the clothes that they wear. If you want to wear it to a Christmas party this weekend you need to go pick it up now and you need to make sure it fits before you get too far into a purchase."
Malls also have the in-store Santa Claus advantage, with Jolly Old Saint Nick setting up shop, allowing children the chance to sit on his lap and have their picture taken.
"Santa started on November 20. He is here again this weekend starting on Black Friday, and then throughout the month of December," says Wilson.
As for a "got to have" item for 2015., it doesn't appear there is one just yet.
"There hasn't been a real major gift item that is out there at the moment. Electronics are usually the things that drives that. We had a lot of new electronics the last couple of years with the Playstation and X-Box bringing out new devices. There is still a lot of lag on those purchases, people that don't buy them in the first year are still doing that," says Wilson. "But there hasn't been one big item yet, so we are anxious to see whether one pops up or not."