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Lack of options fuels frustration

With the holidays fast approaching, limited postal options – combined with a spike in e- commerce deliveries – are fuelling frustrations and long lineups for some customers.

"It's the same every Christmas," said Petter Jacobsen, standing in a bustling Shoppers Drug Mart aisle Wednesday afternoon.

Jacobsen, a city resident who only sends and receives packages through Canada Post during the holidays,
said he spent the majority of his midday break waiting in line at the 49th Street location.

With an increase in parcel deliveries during the holiday season, long line-ups – such as this one last week in the Shoppers Drug Mart – are angering customers. James O'Connor/NNSL photo.

"When you have an hour lunch break, it's a very long lineup to spend almost all the lunch hour standing
and waiting just to send an envelope," Jacobsen said.

With an in-store Canada Post station, Shoppers Drug Mart is one of two permanent locations in the city
where residents can pick up and mail packages.

The only other location, Canada Post's main office on 50th Avenue downtown, is closed on weekends and its website states it operates 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays. Shoppers Drug Mart – open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekends – bears the brunt of the additional demand seen during the holiday season.

Shoppers has recently placed signs reading 20 Minutes and 25 Minutes along a roped-off waiting area, warning customers how long they can expect to wait in line. When reached for comment, staff at Shoppers Drug Mart's postal department said they were "just too busy" with customers to speak with
Yellowknifer.

Sylvie Lapointe, a Canada Post spokesperson, stated in an email the downtown postal outlets are experiencing longer lineups as they serve "office workers who tend to pick-up their items either over lunch or at thee end of the workday Canada Post is taking measures to address concerns about "not ideal" wait times experienced during the holiday season, stated Lapointe.

An additional parcel pick-up location was added in mid-November at 130 Bristol Ave. near the airport and is open weekdays 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m, with temporary employees hired, she said.

Lapointe stated Canada Post's main downtown office extended its weekday hours one hour later as of
late November, with weekend deliveries being offered until Dec. 17. The main location is also set to open its doors for parcel pick ups on Saturday, Dec. 23.

Seeing a 20 per cent jump in overall e-commerce volume during a "record-breaking" parcel season, Lapointe said growth in Yellowknife has resulted in a 14 per cent increase this year. However, consumers are still faced with growing line-ups, and they point to the fact the two downtown outlets are just a few blocks apart.

"These are so close together. Everyone has to come downtown," said Jacobsen. "There should be a post office on the other side of town ... where lots of people live."

Along with additional outlets, Jacobsen also suggested adding more staff at the Shoppers outlet to alleviate long wait times.

Tori Surgeoner, another city resident who relies on Canada Post services during the holidays, said she
walked out of Shoppers one night last week once she saw how long the line was. She returned again the
next day.

Surgeoner said options like temporary "pop-up" post offices, seen in other jurisdictions, would "definitely" help shave minutes off of lengthy wait times.