Toronto stores brace for Boxing Day crush

TORONTO, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- Big box retailers in Toronto are taking measures to avoid mayhem among shoppers Friday, the post-Christmas shopping blitz known as Boxing Day.

The day observed in much of the British Commonwealth is associated with post-Christmas marked-down deals, akin to the U.S. "Black Friday" shopping spree the day after Thanksgiving.

Last month, a WalMart employee in Valley Stream, N.Y., was killed in a Black Friday stampede of shoppers, but big box stores in the Toronto area told the Toronto Sun precautions are being taken to prevent problems.

"People will be coming in and putting their elbows out but we will have staff on the front-line to communicate with (shoppers) before the doors open," said Austin Morgan, general manager of Future Shop in Oshawa, east of Toronto.

Similarly, the electronics chain Best Buy plans to warn shoppers before they enter the stores about appropriate conduct, company spokeswoman Heather Seabrook told the Sun.

"We will be giving out door-crasher tickets so people who want televisions will get tickets for televisions. It prevents shoppers from rushing in," Seabrook said.