A labour impasse that has shutdown trade at British Columbia ports could put a damper on holiday shopping plans if no resolution can be reached soon.
Thousands of containers filled with merchandise intended for stores across the country now sit stationary on docks or on cargo ships which are being diverted to other ports.
“For people whose delivery is very close to the sale of the goods, this will disrupt those business models very significantly,” said Greg Wilson, of the Retail Council of Canada.
Black Friday, the unofficial launch of the holiday shopping season, is just around the corner and Wilson says many small independent retailers rely on revenue from this time of year just to stay afloat.
“That’s their Christmas inventory and it’s delayed, and they can’t sell it, and moreover, the increasing costs sometimes amounting to thousands of dollars a day, are costs that they have to bear,” …