Small businesses in Norfolk County will feel the pinch if the Canada Post strike carries further into the holiday season, especially those who work from home and have a business model that relies on the mail system.
Meagan Adams runs of.her.hands out of her home in Port Rowan.
The next drop date is this coming Monday (November 18th), a date planned well in advance.
Now, there is a possibility that date could come and go, potentially for weeks, just when her customers would be looking to purchase gifts—and when she would need that income for the holiday season as well.
The fear is, even if the strike gets resolved in the coming weeks, there will be a crunch time to get the products out, as she custom-made these earrings specifically for Christmas.
For Adams, Canada Post is the lifeline that connects her to her customers, as 80 percent of the people ordering her products are from outside Norfolk County.
Adams anticipates that many of her customers will not be willing to make the jump from free shipping to paying costs in the double digits.
Adams says she does have some of her products in local stores, so she is hopeful those can continue to sell.
If someone orders her product locally, she says there is always the potential for her to drop it off. However, as noted before, only about 20 percent of her customers reside in Norfolk.
You can see more about her business here.
Written by Matt LeBlanc