Some local retailers, forced to find creative ways to get their products under the tree for their customers amid the ongoing Canada Post strike, are taking matters into their own hands. Literally.
Starting Friday at 9 a.m. until the same time Monday, Rumor’s Restaurant and Comedy Club will offer free delivery inside the Perimeter on total gift card purchases of $100 or more and 2025 season-ticket packages.
“We’re working with people the best we can to make it viable,” Drew Mindell, sales and marketing manager at Rumor’s, said Thursday.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES
Dave Hanson, owner of Sage Garden Greenhouses, said they’ve delivered about 100 orders at this point, incurring extra costs.
Rumor’s said it will ensure delivery of any gift cards purchased in that time frame by next Thursday at 5 p.m., and is extending that service to anyone who has bought eligible gift cards and season tickets before Friday morning.
They’ll also work with customers to meet them where they’re at, including offices and even parking lots, if need be.
“Everyone has been very understanding and reasonable,” Mindell said. “It’s our way of trying to leap over the hurdle that is the Canada Post strike and… another way of giving back to our customers during the holiday season.”
Sage Garden Greenhouses is taking a similar approach, offering deliveries within city limits.
“We’ve left our delivery rate exactly the same that we would have charged via letter mail, $3, and are consolidating orders once a week, on Mondays (and sometimes Sundays), making all those deliveries personally,” owner Dave Hanson said.
Hanson said they’ve delivered about 100 orders at this point, incurring extra costs. And holiday-season crunch time is coming.
“We normally see a significant flurry of these types of orders over the next week or so,” he said.
Hanson said getting the message out has been difficult, leaving people unsure about the process.
Businesses that leverage third-party shipping platforms are also scrambling.
“It’s been pretty detrimental,” said Amanda Buhse, owner of Coal & Canary, which specializes in candles.
Buhse uses a third-party shipping platform, including Canada Post and its 55,000 workers who have been on strike since Nov. 15.
She hasn’t been able to ship to post-office boxes without the option to use the national mail carrier, which has kept rural and remote customers away.
“That’s posed one of the biggest challenges,” she said.
Canada Post is also one of the most cost-effective options for small businesses. The cost of alternatives available during the busiest season for most retailers adds up quickly, Buhse said.
“It’s affecting us in a very impactful way,” she said. “It’s been challenging during an already challenging time of the year.”
Shipping rates at other carriers, including couriers such as Purolator — which is owned by Canada Post — have skyrocketed; the postal workers’ walkout is now in its fourth week.
“With courier providers at capacity this time of year under normal circumstances, stores that don’t have the clout or existing contracts with others — and have depended on Canada Post have very few creative workarounds – especially when customers live out of market,” John Graham, director of government relations, prairie region at the Retail Council of Canada, said in an email.
That’s led some businesses to look beyond the strike.
Hanson said one of the things they’ve begun doing is brainstorming to come up with a bigger-picture shipping solution.
“Perhaps something that even transcends all of this,” he said. “Something we could implement for the long term, a clear and easy and affordable local delivery option on more types of products we offer.”
Part of that has been sparked by the confusion for people trying to get to their greenhouse, a new challenge the recently constructed St. Mary’s Road Interchange presents, resulting in a 30 per cent decline in holiday traffic.
“We’re trying to see if we can find a solution to all of those barriers that impact people’s ability, desire or comfort to come to us,” Hanson said.
Loren Remillard, president and CEO of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, said one of the risks to Canada Post as the strike wears on is small businesses looking elsewhere for more sustainable shipping options.
“Many of these businesses may not come back,” he said. “There’s a trust that’s established between businesses with Canada Post and its workers. In the event this continues for a very prolonged period of time, many businesses may say they can’t rely, can’t guarantee Canada Post will be there if labour disruptions continue to be an issue.
“In many ways, no one is winning right now.”
Remillard said local small businesses are using various methods to attract customers who’d normally have their items shipped, including incentives and discounts to get people into their physical stores.
“Unfortunately, some small businesses are reporting customers have noted they’ve made orders online with companies like Amazon in place of the local purchase… because it has its own delivery network,” he said. “They want to have assurances it will arrive on time.”
Those businesses respect the collective bargaining process but expressed their need for the strike to get settled so there’s some certainty in the marketplace, he said.
Even then, the damage has been done.
“If they settled today, it would help,” he said. “But I don’t know if it will save Christmas for many.”
scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca
Scott Billeck
Reporter
Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade’s worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024. Read more about Scott.
Every piece of reporting Scott produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.