Holiday season brings sales boost for businesses

Some local businesses recorded stronger sales during the 2025 holiday season than the previous year.

A few long-established retailers reported a variety of factors that led to a Christmas season with record results.

Lady of the Lake’s 2025 holiday season was the strongest in the business’s history, with estimated sales about 20 per cent higher than in December 2024, owner Bridget Shaw told the Sun on Sunday.

“I would say it’s our best Christmas ever,” Shaw said. “The growth could be attributed to the store’s longevity, unique offerings and its combined retail-and-café model.”

She said customers increasingly value the experience of shopping locally in a setting that offers more than just transactions. “It’s not just shopping. You get to sit and have this lovely meal,” she said

Shaw observed that favourable weather through much of November helped draw what she described as “local tourists” from surrounding communities, including visitors from Winnipeg, Clear Lake and other nearby areas. While the store’s core demographic remains mid- to older-aged women, she said the customer base continues to broaden as awareness grows.

Despite the strong holiday performance, Shaw said that staffing remains a recurring challenge during peak periods, as seasonal positions are difficult to sustain after Christmas.

At Styles Kitchen, the 2025 holiday season also marked a noticeable improvement over the previous year, co-owner Olufunke Abikoye told the Sun in an interview.

She said December 2025 was significantly busier than the restaurant’s first Christmas season in 2024, largely due to increased visibility and customer awareness after a full year of operating at the Town Centre location

“Some people decided to let go of the stress and give us the honour of cooking for them for Christmas,” Abikoye said. “Christmas Day and the days immediately following were particularly busy, helping offset slower sales earlier in the winter season.”

Abikoye credited improved online presence, word-of-mouth referrals and signage at the Town Centre for attracting new customers, including many ordering African cuisine for the first time. She said Google searches played a key role in drawing both residents and out-of-town customers who were looking for specialty food options during the holidays

The business also saw growing interest from non-African customers, particularly for popular dishes such as jollof rice and goat meat pepper soup. Abikoye said flexibility in tailoring meals to customers’ spice preferences helped broaden appeal across different cultural groups.

While meeting food preparation demands was manageable, delivery logistics posed challenges, especially as some customers preferred not to travel during winter conditions. Looking to 2026, Abikoye said the business hopes to build on its growing visibility, expand online ordering through a new website and continue reaching a wider customer base across Brandon and beyond

Significant growth was also reported by Trinity Meat and Food Place.

The 2025 holiday season was exceptionally busy, with estimated sales and customer traffic increasing by 40 to 42 per cent compared with 2024, co-owner Ajibola Olaosebikan told the Sun.

“We anticipated it would be very busy, but it exceeded last year by far,” Olaosebikan said. “The business nearly ran out of products despite making additional arrangements in advance.”

He attributed the growth to a combination of Brandon’s increasing population, expanded product selection and word-of-mouth marketing.

Trinity Meat introduced new culturally specific products during the year, including halal meats and specialty items catering to Sudanese, Ghanaian and other communities, which helped attract new customers who had not previously shopped at the store, he said.

Olaosebikan also pointed to strategic stocking of seasonal products, such as hard-to-find peppers imported and stored ahead of the festive season, as a key factor in driving holiday sales. “During the festive period, you can’t find it anywhere, but we already had it,” he said

Looking ahead, he said the business is exploring options to expand frozen storage capacity locally, a move he believes will be critical to meeting growing demand in 2026 as the city continues to grow

» aodutola@brandonsun.com

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