Duty free shop in N.B. to close after 31 years due to drop in cross-border shoppers

After more than three decades in business, the owner of a New Brunswick duty free shop says he has no choice but to close down within the next six weeks.

Ongoing political tensions between Canada and the United States, and a trade war sparked by President Donald Trump’s tariffs, have meant fewer cross-border tourists and visitors.

John Slipp, who runs Woodstock Duty Free Shop in Belleville, N.B., says prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, he saw upwards of 200 people in his shop on a summer day.

Now, he gets about 20.

“Back in 2017, I was starting to kind of think and talk out loud about retiring in 10 years from then,” he said.

“Because of COVID and the current situation, those retirement plans are out the window. We’ve had to spend personal savings to in order to manage.”

At the age of 59, he says he has no choice but to find other employment once he closes up the duty free shop.

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As a lifelong resident of the New Brunswick border town, which borders with Maine, Slipp says he could never have imagined Canadian-American relations would ever reach the point they are at now.

“Americans, interestingly enough, have more apprehension about the border … The immigration enforcement activities in the United States has created a fear for many about travelling and about the border experience,” he said.

“(Meanwhile,) Canadians are angry. Canadians are reluctant to go.”

‘It’s catastrophic’

Slipp’s experience isn’t isolated.

According to Statistics Canada data, return trips from the U.S. by car are down 33 per cent compared to June of last year. 

This is having a devastating impact on sales at duty free shops, whose regulations prohibit them from making domestic sales.

“Our industry is an export only business and we rely 100 per cent on that traffic going over the border,” said Barbara Barrett, the executive director of Frontier Duty Free Association.

“So when you drive into the parking lot of a land border duty free stop, you absolutely have to exit into the United States and all of our product goes directly into the Unites States.”

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She says duty free shops across Canada are seeing freefalling sales and some of them are having trouble keeping the lights on.

A recent survey conducted by the association found a third of their stores could close if they don’t receive support from the federal government.

“We’ve been a part of the Canadian tourism fabric for over 40 years now. When we lose them, we’re not getting them back,” she said.

“That would be a tremendous shame. So that’s where we’re at. It’s catastrophic.”

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