(Facebook/ Prince Albert and District Chamber of Commerce)

By Nick Nielsen

Chamber of Commerce

Local shoppers made a big difference this Christmas

Jan 6, 2026 | 4:16 PM

The numbers aren’t totaled up yet from the Christmas shopping season, but from the businesses the Prince Albert Chamber of Commerce has talked to, it was a great shopping season for local businesses to end 2025.

In typical Prince Albert fashion, a lot of the Christmas shoppers were out in the last minute according to Chamber of Commerce Patty Hughes.

“It was a little bit of a slow start, but when I spoke to some retailers, they were very happy how the numbers were coming in here. It seemed to be the last two weeks that there was that real crunch of last minute shoppers going, ‘Hey, I need to get out there and get some of those gifts’ for the loved ones and friends and families.”

The Chamber won’t know where this Christmas season ranks compared to years in the past, but there is a lot of optimism as a result and the businesses the Chamber has talked to have seen growth. Hughes said that there is still a big push for people to support local because of the personal service you can’t get when shopping online.

“The businesses that really, truly thrive, that surpasses that ability to shop online and that kind of thing is that customer service. That really makes the difference of why people do business locally, is that local feel and being able to know who they’re dealing with. That makes a significant decision-making difference of why they (customers) do support local.”

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Hughes added, “You don’t get that with the online level by any means, that personal feel, that touch and being able to talk to the owner and say, ‘hey, I think this gift will be really good for this person.’ They’ll be like, ‘hey, you know what? Your mom was in for this person too, and this is what they got them.’ Sometimes they know some of those little inside secrets too.”

The Christmas shopping season did see tragedy strike with the fire at the Salvation Army building downtown, but that has also created an opportunity for the business community to come together. Hughes has been very impressed with the amount of businesses that have come together for a common cause.

However, it isn’t just the Salvation Army that was supported by the business community through the weeks leading up into a busy Christmas season.

“I’ve met a lot with the non-profit organizations, and they will consistently talk about how the business community supports their organizations and what they do, because they know that we need to both work hand in hand. This was unfortunately a very tragic event that happened, but definitely the business community stepped in because they knew that they needed help. It goes back to why it’s so important to support local.”

The Chamber is going to be hosting its State of the City Address coming up Feb. 3 where Mayor Bill Powalinsky will be speaking. Tickets are available now on the Chamber’s website here.