It’s the summer of staycations — and that’s leading to retail shortages when it comes to outdoor gear in Canada.
Faced with travel restrictions and health concerns over COVID-19, many Canadians have decided this is the year to explore the great outdoors, and they’re stocking up on bikes, tents, stand-up paddleboards, even dehydrated food and binoculars.
“There was this pent-up desire for people to get outside,” explained Brodie Wallace, merchandise director of hard goods at Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC).
MEC took a huge hit in sales at the beginning of the season, when the pandemic forced the Vancouver-based company to shut down all of its stores across the country.
The Cost of Living is moving soon! Catch us Fridays at 11:30 a.m. until Sept. 6. Starting Sept. 13, you can catch us at noon on Sundays after the news. To listen anytime, click here to download the show to your podcast player of choice
But when coronavirus-related restrictions started to ease, Wallace said customers were keen to return both in person and online.
“As people were able to get outside and get into the backcountry or get into our parks, lakes and river systems, there was a lot of pent-up demand, and a lot of people who were just looking to re-purpose, maybe, some of that still disposable income that they had thought about using to go to Hawaii or maybe take a European trip,” he said.
‘Peak and valley’ supply problems
Sales of bikes, stand-up paddleboards and tents saw the biggest jump at MEC, with sales in all three categories up 10 to 20 per cent from the same time last year, said Wallace.
“Sales of stand-up paddleboards really went through the roof,” he added.
One week we’ll have great sales because we’ve got a shipment, then in the next week there’s nothing available again.– Brodie Wallace, merchandise director of hard goods, Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC)
Cycling is one of five outdoor activities experiencing explosive growth this season, according to the global market research firm NPD Group. The report, which is compiled based on June sales in the US, says consumers are also flocking to paddle sports, golf, camping and birdwatching.
The shortage of bicycles, especially those priced under $1,000, is part of a larger global phenomenon which has been exasperated by supply chain disruptions and trade disputes between the United States and China.
“It can be very peak and valley,” Wallace said about the Canadian market.
A cyclist navigates Calgary’s bicycle pathways in August. (Helen Pike/CBC)
“One week we’ll have great sales because we’ve got a shipment, then in the next week there’s nothing available again.”
Calgary-based travel writer and blogger Karen Ung, who runs the Play Outside Guide, said she’s fielding a lot of questions from readers and friends about where to find tents, life jackets and even smaller items such as dehydrated food for camping.
“Those are sold out,” Ung said. “All the way down to the little consumables like we were trying to just find some of those zip fire starters because they’re so good for starting a fire even with damp wood.”
More people means more injuries
The surge of interest in outdoor activities means Canada’s beaches, trails, lakes and campsites are at times jam-packed with visitors.
“It’s pretty crazy right now,” Ung said about the Kananaskis region of Alberta. “We were surprised even hikes that were not that popular before, now you go by and the parking lot is overflowing. It’s a little overwhelming and so we just keep driving to another trail head.”
Travel blogger and Alberta Parks ambassador Karen Ung says she’s getting bombarded with questions about where to go, what gear to bring and more importantly, where to find it. (Submitted by Karen Ung)
Ung said she’s also noticing a lot of improvising when it comes to using outdoor gear.
“There’s people scrambling and they’re in places where there’s risk of rock fall,” she said. “They can’t find a rock helmet because the stores are all sold out, so they’re wearing bike helmets.”
But some things just can’t be improvised, Ung added, such as proper footwear.
That includes experience.
The number of rescue responses from Alberta Parks has increased significantly this summer, doubling in the month of July compared to the same time last year.
“Typically, 20 to 30 per cent of search and rescue calls are related to missing or overdue people,” Alberta Parks revealed in a statement emailed to CBC Radio’s The Cost of Living.
“This season, there has been a noticeable increase in mountain biking injuries. The team has responded to mountain bike accidents almost every day for the past few months,” according to the provincial agency.
Second wave of interest in winter sports?
As the summer season winds down, stores like Mountain Equipment Co-op are anticipating a possible second wave of interest in winter sports.
“My suspicion is that Canadians are going to take to the hills and find their powder and really enjoy being outside,” said Brodie Wallace with MEC.
“Whether it’s backcountry ski touring, or snow shoes and Nordic ski or even alpine ski — we’re looking at those areas as real opportunities within the business.”
Download the Cost of Living podcast for more stories like this one each week.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
