Northern neighbors spend plenty here

License plates from north of the border tell much of the story.

And for many people, a bustling Black Friday brought home once again just how big a role Canadians are playing in the Flathead Valley economy.

“I was in the mall parking lot Saturday — Walmart was the same way — and I wish I had a counter as I was driving down looking at Canadian license plates,” Kalispell City Council member Tim Kluesner said during a work session on Monday.

“I bet it was 30 to 40 percent of those plates,” he said.

Jill Rowland, who lives just south of Calgary, was one of about 40 women from Alberta who drove down to Kalispell together for some Black Friday shopping.

“The women all said it was the best year they ever had, and most said they spent more this year than they ever had. That’s a good thing for you guys, not so much for us,” Rowland joked.

The “Shop ‘til ya Drop” group of women has been coming to Kalispell for Black Friday shopping for about 10 years. The group reported spending a combined $80,000 in 2009, so this year’s trip must have been good news for some Kalispell businesses.

“Canadians are suckers for coupons,” Rowland conceded.

And Kalispell businesses have been more than happy to tempt visitors from up north with special deals.

“We’re always kind of overwhelmed by the support the businesses in town give us,”  Rowland said. “They’re so willing to give us nice coupons and special deals. We feel very welcome and appreciated. It’s quite nice.”

A small group of the women broke off to go to Great Falls this year.

“I don’t know, I’m a Kalispell girl,” Rowland said, adding that she comes down other times of the year to ski and golf, staying with her parents who have a house here.

Diane Medler, director of the Kalispell Convention and Visitors Bureau, said that Canadians have been very important to the local economy.

She talked to five hoteliers who reported high occupancy rates Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday with at least 75 percent of their business with Canadian visitors.

The Red Lion Hotel Kalispell was sold out Thanksgiving Day and reported that as much as 85 percent of its business last weekend was Canadian, Medler said.

People from Alberta make up the largest volume of walk-in traffic at the Kalispell Visitor Center, followed by in-state Montana travelers and people from Washington, California and British Columbia, in that order.

Alberta represented the second largest number of visitors to Flathead County in the first and second quarters of 2011, coming in behind Idaho and ahead of Minnesota, according to the Institute of Tourism and Recreation Research at University of Montana.

Lower prices, unique items and stores, special deals, no state sales tax and a Loonie on par with the U.S. dollar all help attract shoppers from Alberta to Kalispell, as does a surprisingly resilient economy up north.

Alberta had a median household income of $83,560 (Canadian) in 2009, according to Statistics Canada, and posted a 5 percent unemployment rate in November, the lowest of any province in Canada.

“They come down and stock up on staples and buy everyday things they need. Some come down as much as once a month,” Medler said.

“Even with the tax and duty they have to pay to cross the border, they still save money on a lot of items by buying down here.”

Over the last six to nine months, some Kalispell businesses have reported Canadian customers making up as much as 30 percent of sales, Medler said.

The Kalispell Convention and Visitors Bureau does a lot of online marketing in Alberta and into British Columbia with banner ads that take people to a landing page with special travel packages for Canadian visitors.

“They are very important and we love them dearly,” Medler said of Canadian visitors.

The bureau hopes to continue to expand its marketing up north and raise more awareness of Kalispell and all it has to offer compared to places such as Spokane and Great Falls, but also continue to encourage people to visit from other area drive markets.

“We certainly don’t want to put all our eggs in one basket. We’re an affordable location for people from Idaho and Washington as well as Canada,” Medler said.

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.