SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Recently-released Statistics Canada data showing a decline in furniture and home furnishing sales across the territory in the months leading up to The Brick's opening in Yellowknife should not be read into too much, according to the territorial Bureau of Statistics.

Kristin, John, and baby Ella Praetzel shopping for their living room at The Brick. The Praetzels say they held off on furniture purchases when they heard the retailer was coming to town. - Thandiwe Vela/NNSL photo

Following The Brick's announcement in January that the franchise would soon be opening, sales in the sector between January and March showed a decline of 34.1 per cent, compared to the same period last year.

"There is a drop, and it's certainly bigger than what we'd normally see," statistician Vishni Peeris said, noting smaller market data often has considerable fluctuations.

"Usually at the national level you get a little more consistency," Peeris said.

Across Canada, furniture and home furnishing sales declined by 1.5 per cent over the same period, an economist telling Home Goods Online that the weakness in retail spending is "consistent with the cooling in the existing housing market over the last half of 2010."

Sandra Turner, the Yellowknife representative for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, said she would not chalk the regional furniture sales decline up to a decline in the housing markets.

"From the housing perspective we haven't seen much change that would have affected furniture sales," Turner said, not ruling out mass anticipation of The Brick as a causing factor of the decline.

"It's funny when a new business comes in, because the city's so small, everybody rushes there," she said.

"A lot of people were wait- ing for The Brick to come in," Yellowknifer Kristin Praetzel said, while shopping with her husband John and nine-month-old baby Ella. "When we heard The Brick was coming we were waiting for sure."

Although the Praetzels say they prefer the quality of furniture at local businesses which is not "mass produced," they say the lower prices and extended payment plans are what made them wait for The Brick to arrive before making their big-ticket purchases.

"To pick up a $2,000 television and spend $4,000 on furniture is extreme for a young family," John said. "But not when you can walk out and have a year to pay it off," he said.

"We're impulse shoppers," said Wanda Roberts, who picked up a new furniture set during the retailer's opening weekend with her husband Derek. "We didn't necessarily put off shopping because they were opening but we did hear of others who did."

About 1,000 people visited The Brick during its March 25 grand opening, franchise owner Mansoor Anjum said, adding the location has made about $2 million in sales since.

The Brick's entrance into the regional market is expected to largely influence the territory's furniture and home furnishing sales data, which Statistics Canada recorded at $1.5 million over this year's first quarter.

"I feel good about the fact that we're being received in the community with open arms," Anjum said.

"Business is business but at the end of the day, if people are happy that we have provided this service, that makes me feel good."

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