Ontario’s Sault Ste. Marie Duty Free’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic has been a gradual rise, but the Canadian land border operator tells TMI that travelers are now back to pre-pandemic numbers, with the store’s connection to its community playing an important role in its success.
“After falling drastically at about 95% during the pandemic, travel at our border crossing has since rebounded. We began to notice a slow recovery in mid 2023. Travel is continuing to ramp up from the crash during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are happy that travelers are on the move again!” says co-founder Ralph Caria.
“Since the reopening of the border, we continued to notice an increase each month and we have now finally reached our pre-pandemic ‘normal’.”
Sault Ste. Marie Duty Free never fully closed during the pandemic, as the store remained open for essential workers.
“We actually never shut down our store. Even when our sales were down a record-breaking 95%, we remained open for essential workers who were required to travel and we were able to provide employment to our loyal staff. During this time, we were able to integrate fresh new ideas which included rethinking our marketing strategies, both in-store and online. We have always appreciated our customers, but it was during this time that we gained an even stronger gratitude for the travelers visiting our store.”
Those fresh new ideas were recognized by the Frontier Duty Free Association at last year’s Gold Standard Awards where Sault Ste. Marie Duty Free won two awards: Outstanding Achievement or Innovation Award, and Platinum Award – Category A.
“We believe by listening to our customers, encouraging teamwork and tapping into the creativity of our staff members we are able to provide the best possible service, shopping experience and a wide range of unique, quality products for our customers and that is what sets our store apart,” says Caria.
The Sault Ste. Marie Duty Free customer base is quite diverse.
“Our customers range from the small-town citizens of both Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario and Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, as well as the surrounding areas, to those who are traveling long distances but chose to cross through our border crossing because they wanted to enjoy the beauty of the scenic route, outdoorsmen who are traveling for hunting and fishing opportunities. We have recently noticed quite the increase in Millennials and older Gen-Z customers who are embracing the Duty Free shopping experience.”
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Connection to community
Each year Sault St. Marie Duty Free provides young students with summer work opportunities, which has turned into long-term employment for many of them.
“We prioritize the positive experience we provide for our customers, and the foundation of this is based on the experience our staff has at the store. We strive to maintain a fun and welcoming environment for our staff, which in turn, they are able to provide to our customers.”
These summer work opportunities for youth and university students are key, along with Sault Ste. Marie’s connection to its customers and community.
“We were thankfully able to experience a wonderful summer this year at our store. As mentioned, we focus on hiring youth and young students during the summer. Each summer, we look forward to collaborating with the new and ambitious workers as well as our loyal returning summer students. We really try to make this job a beneficial experience for them. It is important to us as a store family to really embrace the different talents of our employees in order to appeal to all of our different customers. We were so happy to have so many customers back buzzing through our store, making Duty Free fun once again,” says Caria.
“We continue to use social media to our advantage, to push awareness and thus gaining exposure for our store and using it as a tool to connect and reach out to our customers. We also enjoy getting involved with the community. This year, our staff worked collaboratively to design and hand-make a float for our local Rotary Fest parade.”
