People in Bellingham help boost local economy with fewer Canadian cross-border shoppers

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Shoppers in Bellingham are enjoying more parking spaces and shorter line-ups thanks to fewer Canadians heading over the line.

With the loonie the lowest it’s been in years, there were 200 thousand fewer people passing through the five border crossings into Whatcom County last month compared to the same time in 2014. That decrease in Canadian traffic may not be hurting the local economy as one would expect.

Locals in Whatcom County are filling up shops and filling that economic void.

Guy Occhiogrosso with the Bellingham Chamber of Commerce says the airport and big-box retailers may not be doing as well as before but the rest of the sectors remain strong.

“That’s because the US economy is doing so well, again just being a healthy retail season for us, it’s definitely aiding in the drop in cross border and Canadian retail sales. Also, us being a tourism centric area, we are seeing an influx due to sunny weather but also the summer seasons.”

He says people from all over Cascadia are making trips and spending their cash.

“We have a large number of folks come up from the greater Puget Sound, particularly Seattle. I think weekend getaways. We tend to see a lot of people coming up as much as we see coming south.”

Occhiogrosso adds Canadians interested in opening up a business in Whatcom County will see an almost immediate increase in the value due to the US dollar and a strong economy.

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