During the postal strike last November, Maker House owner Gareth Davies was using Canada Post to ship most of the online orders from his Wellington Street West gift shop.
This time around, his situation is much different.
Given that his store stocks and sells many smaller items, Davies had originally opted for Canada Post’s flat rate boxes, which allowed customers to have items shipped more affordably.
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“The previous strike definitely had an impact. We lost all that flat-pack business. One of our more popular items is the lapel pins and brooches made from reclaimed copper from the roof of Parliament. We ship them across the country through flat packs … but that got turned off as soon as the strike hit,” Davies said.
Though he made an effort to stop shipping packages when he received a 72-hour notice of strike action from Canada Post last year, many packages that were already in transit were subject to lengthy delays or simply lost in the system, he said.
Plus, to gear up for big business during the holiday season, Maker House had sent out flyers, but postal delays meant customers only received them after the holidays had passed.
“It’s our annual holiday wishbook of Canadian-made and locally made items. We had them printed, ready to go at the distribution centre and then everything shut down. I received mine in the mail during Boxing Week. Unfortunately, that was just lost expense,” he said.
In the end, the postal work stoppage forced Davies to make other plans for shipping products. He switched Maker House’s local shipping to Ottawa-based last-mile delivery service Trexity and its broader Canadian shipping to Purolator and ICS Courier.
“We didn’t switch back, partly because we knew there would be a potential or likely additional strike happening this spring, but also because we’re happy with the service,” he said.
“We’re still shipping parcels, so people can still shop online. It just means they won’t have the flat-pack option,” he said.
So, other than a few hiccups, Davies said he doesn’t expect a potential postal strike to have as big of an impact now as it did around the holidays.
“I think, unfortunately, the (postal) workers have even less leverage this time,” he told OBJ.
Also, while a postal strike may impact his online sales a little, Davies said the recent “buy Canadian” movement has had a positive impact on his business.
“It’s been significant. The last couple of years have been sort of flat in terms of growth. We got a big boost when people started to look to spend locally and support Canadian businesses. We’re lucky at Maker House to have over 250 Canadian companies under one roof and on our website,” Davies said, adding that his sales are up more than 50 per cent this year compared to last.
‘It’s not earth-shattering’
When OBJ spoke with Patti Taggart, owner of Tag Along Toys, in December, she was using Canada Post for most of her shipping outside of Ottawa. The strike meant she had to cancel several orders, amounting to “a few thousand dollars lost.”
While the holidays are a hot time for buying toys, late spring isn’t as busy. Taggart told OBJ on Tuesday that, if a strike happens, she doesn’t foresee it having much impact on her business.
“This time of year for me, we don’t do a ton. It’s not earth-shattering like it is at Christmastime for me,” she said.
Most of her online order customers have opted to pick up in-store, with only three online orders being shipped via Canada Post over the past three weeks, Taggart said.
She said she’ll explore alternative options if and when shipping becomes an issue.
“Last Christmas what I did was I just told people we weren’t shipping outside of Ottawa. I had a couple of companies contact me, like ClickShip. If it starts to get crazy again, I’ll have to look at an alternative for sure, but right now it’s not a huge piece that I’m going to miss because I don’t do a lot of online sales this time of year,” she said.
The month-long strike late last year saw about 55,000 Canada Post employees walk off the job, affecting countless residents and businesses around the busy holiday season.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers was to be in a legal strike position Friday but said late Thursday that it was calling for a countrywide halt to overtime work as negotiators continued to review the latest offers from Canada Post.
Canada Post issued its own statement in response to the overtime ban, saying there are no rotating strikes or national work stoppages as of now and postal operations will continue. However, the Crown corporation warned of possible delays.
Another work stoppage in the space of six months would only worsen Canada Post’s financial situation. Since 2018, it has seen $3.8 billion in losses, with $803 million in the first nine months of 2024.
Canada Post said it’s already seeing mail volumes decline and is pushing for an urgent resolution.
“Canada Post is such a legacy Crown corporation that I would hate to ever lose it. I really hope it can survive and find new ground in this modern world,” Davies said.
—With files from The Canadian Press
