After the Canada Post outlet inside his Pharmasave in Victoria West shuttered its doors, owner Alex Akhavan is still looking for answers as to why his outlet was put on the chopping block.
Four Canada Post outlets in Greater Victoria were among the many mail outlets across the country that have shut down as part of the corporation’s restructuring.
Two Heart Pharmacy’s, one at 3825 Cadboro Bay Road and the other at 1595 Fairfield Road had their outlets closed, along with another outlet at 5166 Cordova Bay Road.
In the Victoria West neighbourhood, Akhavan’s Pharmasave at 180 Wilson Street was the fourth to shut down.
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“Why are you closing this office, because these outlets are revenue-generating enterprises?” said Akhavan.
After the Canada Post strike ended, the corporation released its finances showing that the corporation was operating at a loss of more than $1 billion so far this year and that it was “effectively insolvent.”
The corporation warned that it would close down some locations as part of efforts to reduce costs.
At the Vic West Pharmasave, Akhavan says he’s still fighting for answers.
“It’s never been from day one about our business, it’s been about transparency,” said the owner.
Akhavan says his outlet didn’t come at a significant cost for Canada Post. Each year, the owner says he spends around $300,000 in operating costs, including rent, salaries for the workers, and purchasing Canada Post products.
“We cover all the costs from infrastructure, to equipment, to computers, upgrades, everything.”
Akhavan says he purchases stamps, boxes, and other products directly from the corporation, adding that some are marked higher to sell back to customers. He says Canada Post gives him a “service fee” in return, which equates to around $20,000 a year.
Despite the costs, he says he gets value out of the foot traffic.
“The real value to a host business is bringing foot traffic and at the end of the day and you take into account the rent, and the staffing and all that, most of the time these are break-even enterprises,” said Akhavan.
The owner recently filed an information request to the corporation asking why his outlet had to shutter its doors, specifically asking for any market analysis, impact assessments and other tools that may have been used in the decision-making process.
In return, he received three lines of a spreadsheet, which in part showed the date his contract with the corporation was set to expire.
Canada Post tells CHEK News that all business decisions go through an “extensive review process.”
“All our retail operations and business decisions go through an extensive review process to evaluate our retail postal outlet network and customer needs. We are confident that customers will be well-served by the postal outlets in the Greater Victoria area,” said the corporation in a statement.
“We do not disclose details on discussions, agreements or decisions of our contractual agreements,”
Akhavan says he’s forwarded a complaint to the Office of the Information Commissioner.
The outlet is still being used as an access point for UPS and Puralator mail. If Canada Post were to return to his shop, he’d be hesitant. Akhavan says he’s currently exploring other retail opportunities for the space.