A weaker Mexican peso means fewer Tijuana residents have been willing to cross the border to do their Christmas shopping in the United States.
San Ysidro business owners were hoping consumption would rise over the holiday season to offset losses tied to the exchange rate this year.
But so far, it isn’t happening.
“(Shopping) has decreased like 30 percent from last year,” said Roxana Beltrán, assistant manager at The Perfume Network of California, a discount perfume and cologne store in San Ysidro.
Mexican shoppers have long crossed the border to buy clothes, perfumes, accessories and more in San Ysidro—especially during Christmas.
But their spending power has decreased as the Mexican peso has fallen to record lows. This week, it was trading at about 17 pesos to the dollar.
“Most of our customers from the past two, three months, they’ve whined about the peso exchange,” Beltrán said.
She said it’s especially difficult because 80 percent of the store’s shoppers tend to drive up from Tijuana.
At a nearby shoe and clothing store, 23-year-old Melissa Villalobos was one of the few Tijuana residents shopping for shoes to give away for Christmas.
She said she can afford to do her Christmas shopping in San Ysidro because she works in the United States.
“I earn in dollars, so for me it’s the same to do shopping in Mexico or here,” she said.
Villalobos said she prefers to do her shopping in San Ysidro than in Tijuana because she thinks the products sold north of the border have more variety.
Her parents, on the other hand, have stopped crossing the border to make purchases in San Ysidro.
“They prefer to buy in Tijuana precisely because the dollar is more expensive,” she said.
