Customers wait outside of Best Buy during Boxing Day, Dec. 26.

(CARLI BERRY / iNFOnews.ca)

The Interior’s largest mall was busy this Boxing Day but customers kept a safe distance from one another as they lined up outside various stores for deals.

Sorcia Joyal and Grace Munson were on the hunt for staple clothing in Aritizia at Kelowna's Orchard Park Shopping Centre, and said the deals were in the retailer's TNA section. Its Super Puff jackets were a hot item this season, they added.

Other stores had a few good deals, too.

"Aerie is having a good sale,” Joyal said.

Munson was also searching for AirPods Pro.

Bargains weren't quite as easy to come by this year as they were last year, shopper Ashley Bennett said. Usually, she visits Bath & Body Works for a Boxing Day deal, but this year hardly any of the Christmas selection was left.

“It was busier last year than this year,” she said.

She made her last stop at Best Buy to see if a Nintendo Switch game was on sale.

Boathouse saw a lineup outside of the store located inside of the Orchard Park Shopping Centre for Boxing Day, Dec. 26.

(CARLI BERRY / iNFOnews.ca)

Lorraine Reid was shopping for a new vacuum cleaner at Walmart but they were sold out so she stopped in at Best Buy Saturday to see if they could find a cordless one on sale.

“They had some sales, but there wasn’t quite the same deal,” she said.

While the shopping centre's parking lot was busy, customers wore masks and adhered to social distancing guidelines indoors. Lineups could be seen at Best Buy, Boathouse, Roots and a few other stores at around 11 a.m.

As non-essential retail has been shuttered or restricted across much of the country, the usually crowded malls and long lineups of Boxing Day are expected to be replaced with internet searches and online orders.

READ MORE: Boxing Day sales move online amid lockdowns, deep discounts still expected: Experts

Ontario's provincewide lockdown begins today on Boxing Day, joining Quebec and Manitoba in closing non-essential retail, while much of the rest of the country has curtailed in-store capacity.

Despite the restrictions forcing most shopping online, industry watchers say retailers are still expected to offer some deep discounts in a bid to raise cash.

The mall administration could not be immediately reached for comment.

- With files from The Canadian Press

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