Loonie Gets No Respect in Some American Stores

(Tamara King — Canadian Press)

Armed with the strongest dollar in three decades, Canadian shoppers are flocking south of the border in search of the best bargains on everything from clothes to books to booze.

But a Canadian consumer group has a warning: watch which currency you’re plunking down for deals in the United States.

Bruce Cran, president of the Ottawa-based Consumers’ Association of Canada, says that since the two currencies hit parity, he’s been getting calls and e-mails from across the country about U.S. merchants whose exchange rates are all over the map.

In Bellingham, Wash., one store recently offered a rate of only 75 cents on the Canadian dollar. At another shop in Buffalo, N.Y., a Canadian dollar was worth just 60 cents, Cran said.

“It’s morally reprehensible, but an informed consumer shouldn’t even shop there,” Cran said.

During the Thanksgiving weekend in Fargo, N.D., sporting goods retailer Scheels was among those taking Canadian money at par. Others, like Target, were close, giving 93 cents for a Canadian dollar. But at Gordmans, a discount clothing store chain, a loonie was only worth 75 cents — the exchange rate last in effect in August 2004, according to the Bank of Canada’s website.

“I think I would’ve turned around on my heels,” said Jeanette Shewchuk, a Manitoban who spent part of the Thanksgiving weekend searching for bargains in North Dakota. “It should reflect the markets. It’s not fair.” Unfortunately, Cran says, there’s not much stopping retailers from charging whatever rate they like. “It is buyer beware.”

Cran’s advice: change your money at a Canadian bank before you cross the border.

That’s exactly what Adrienne Ross of Vernon, B.C., did for a shopping weekend in Seattle. She picked up her American funds before making the seven-hour drive south. “I usually don’t do it, because I don’t like having that much cash on me,” said Ross, 27.

This time, she decided to get American currency for a few reasons. Ross didn’t want to pay the fee charged by credit card companies to convert currencies, and she wanted to avoid a repeat of past experiences with stores flatly refusing to accept Canadian money.

Local business groups are noticing that, too. David Martin, the head of the Fargo-Moorhead Chamber of Commerce, sounded apologetic about some businesses in his city — about a two-hour drive from the Canada-U.S. border — that have trouble with Canadian cash.

Martin pointed out that some retailers, especially smaller ones, aren’t equipped to handle other currencies. Still, through its website and newsletters, the chamber encourages local businesses to accept Canadian money at the bank’s exchange rate.

“The more we’re willing and able to do that, the more business we’re going to have, the more Canadian shoppers we’re going to have,” said Martin.