Supply Chain Problems Threaten COVID-19 Recovery for Small Businesses | The Canadian News

The global supply chain crisis, driven by material shortages, overseas shipping delays and labor shortages, has not affected all companies equally.

Take Canadian Tire, for example, which confidently said last week that you shouldn’t have a problem storing your shelves over the holidays.

The CEO of the company explained that he has been able to rely on his vast warehousing capacity across the country to order merchandise well in advance and that he chartered his own boat to ensure his winter products arrived in good time for the season. busiest shopping of the year.

Your typical family-run street store, however, doesn’t have access to Canadian Tire’s network and deep pockets, let alone those of giants like Amazon or Walmart.

“It’s impacting small businesses a lot because if we don’t have a certain product, people will go to the big business right away, because they can probably get their product more easily through them,” says Jill Rochon, owner of Jill and the Beanstalk. , a toy and baby goods store in Toronto.

“It’s really affecting us.”

With large retailers relying on impressive scale to keep shelves stocked during the crucial holiday shopping season, small Canadian businesses have been forced to get creative to survive the global supply chain crisis.

More than two-thirds of Canadian small businesses report the impact of the supply chain crisis, according to Dan Kelly, executive director of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).

Many smaller companies rely on trapped international supply chains for foreign-made products, as well as getting components to their manufacturers.

“When you add that to the inflationary pressures many companies face and the increased cost of doing business in general, this is creating a real crisis,” says Kelly.

Supply chain problems have raged for months at many family-owned stores, with several stores telling Global News that their suppliers warned them in the summer months that holiday orders would face delays in the fall.

“Every retailer in Canada has literally been sitting with pins and needles, waiting since August. When will my shipments arrive? How much are they going to cost? “says Nikki van Duyvendyk of Dutch Growers, a Saskatoon-based home and garden store.

“We thought we knew how it all turned out … and now it’s a completely different game.”

The timing couldn’t be worse for many retailers who have survived continued closures and capacity caps linked to the COVID-19 pandemic for just a short year and a half.

With some companies often relying on the last two months of the year to make up to half of their annual sales, Kelly says how companies navigate these supply chain hurdles could make a difference in reaching 2022.

“Companies hold on to the nails. And for retailers, as we get closer to the holiday season, this is either good or bad, ”he says.

Rochon says one of the hardest things about keeping toys and other items on shelves is the randomness of what arrives and what is delayed; barns and toy trains, certain paintings and temporary tattoos are just a few of the niche items you haven’t been able to stock up for the holidays.

“I called the dealer, he said there is a shortage of Pokémon cards around the world right now,” says Rochon.

The store owner says she has spent four more times this year scouring vendor websites to be ready to order when stock is available. Though she’s confident there will be toys on the shelves in December, Rochon says parents should set realistic expectations for their children’s wish lists this year.

“They will have to teach their children… that Santa may not be able to attend this year. Whatever you are celebrating, you need to be more forgiving. “

Knowing in the summer that she would have to get creative to get products on the shelves with shipping delays on the horizon, Ziggy’s at Home owner Julie Fass said she found advantages by exiting her store’s traditional supply chain with headquarters in Toronto.

“I always wanted to get rid of the cello we use to wrap gifts, and since I can’t get it this year, I change my gift wrapping and it’s more environmentally friendly. In some ways it has definitely been more difficult and in some ways it has definitely benefited us, ”she says.

Kelly says Fass isn’t alone in finding creative solutions to supply chain problems – some independent companies have been able to outperform their larger counterparts by finding domestic suppliers that aren’t constrained by shipping delays.

“A small business can more easily turn around and make changes in the blink of an eye. If you are a large company, yes, you may have influence, but if your goods are stuck on a pallet on a ship, you are not going to be able to do much to improve that, “he said. He says.

Business could grow, then, for local manufacturers and artisan products manufacturers in the coming months as retailers look for suppliers that are just a short drive away, Kelly says.

Van Duyvendyk says the difficulty in getting orders from abroad has been well suited to the local buying mentality. She says that focusing on sourcing products from local suppliers has been a “saving grace” for Dutch growers, and has resonated with her customers as well.

“Fortunately, even before the pandemic started, we have really been trying to embrace local brands. And to be honest, the public really wants that, they want to support the locals, ”he says.

In the same way that smaller retailers have relied on buy-local to keep their shelves stocked, the same trend could provide the additional support independent businesses need this year.

Fass says support from her Toronto neighborhood has been a constant throughout the pandemic and now in the supply chain crisis.

“We need to be able to put our toes in all aspects. Whether it’s the product that comes in, the packaging, the number of people, the staff… This has really been the biggest challenge and I am so thankful that this community and neighborhood have really joined the small businesses, ”she says.

—With files from Anne Gaviola and Gabriela Panza-Beltrandi