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Lure of Canada

Favorable exchange rate is bringing Americans across the border.

Shari Cohen | Contributing Writer

R

esidents of Detroit and Windsor,
its Canadian neighbor to the south,
have long enjoyed a close relation-
ship on many levels — entertainment,
shopping, dining out.
Before the 9-11 terrorist attack, it was
common for Downtown Detroit office
workers to have lunch in Windsor and sub-
urbanites often visited the Canadian city
to shop, eat at an ethnic restaurant or try
their luck at the casino.
After 9-11, long backups sometimes
occurred at the two Detroit-Windsor
border crossings as security ratcheted up.
Quick, fun trips to Canada were no longer
so appealing.
“Before 9-11, 30 percent of our custom-
ers were from the U.S.; after, it dropped
to 10 to 12 percent,” said Dan Orman, co-
owner of Freed’s, a popular clothing store in
downtown Windsor for 86 years.
But, in recent years, traffic flow has
improved, based on reports from individu-
als who travel to Windsor regularly and
official websites that track border cross-
ing times. Orman says he commutes to
Windsor from his West Bloomfield home
in about 30-35 minutes as long as it’s not
rush hour.
But it’s the favorable currency exchange
rate that is once again luring more U.S. citi-
zens to Canada.
Allan Gale of West Bloomfield, who fre-

12 April 7 • 2016

Brothers Andrew and Noah Tepperman own a family furniture business in Windsor.

quently visits Windsor
for shopping and
entertainment, says the
exchange rate just adds
more pleasure to visits.
Now that the
American dollar is
worth between $1.29 to
Allan Gale
$1.43 Canadian, there is
a real financial incentive
to visit Windsor, even
with Canada’s higher sales taxes of 13 per-
cent versus 6 percent in Michigan.

ADDED VALUE
Andrew Tepperman, co-owner and
president of Tepperman’s, a family-owned
furniture and electronics business with
six stores in Ontario, says there has been a
“massive” increase in American shoppers.
“It has been decades since the exchange
rate was that great,” he said. He explains
that the cost of a Tepperman’s sofa in 2011
was $698 CDN. An American shopper
would have paid US $769 for the sofa then,
but only US $481 today.
While Tepperman’s doesn’t deliver in the

Joan Shanfield Melnick

U.S., he says that American shoppers often
purchase items such as a flat-screen TV or
ottoman that can fit in a car. The store has
been in business for 90 years, Tepperman
says, and the owners know how to vary
the merchandise and pricing to work best
with the exchange rate, which is posted by
the cashier.
Joan Shanfield Melnick owns
Shanfields-Meyers, a family business in
Windsor established 79 years ago. Since
1946, Shanfields-Meyers has occupied a
large downtown showroom and store filled