Shipment squeeze butts out smoke sales
Control over how cigarettes are distributed is forcing some die-hard smokers to fume as store shelves sit empty due to a shortage in shipments.
No longer getting tobacco products from wholesalers has resulted in smokers walking out of shops empty-handed and is causing financial losses in the retail sector, said convenience store manager Paul Shin.
"It's really bad right now and it's not just us -- it's affecting all convenience stores, gas stations."
Until last month, convenience stores, gas stations and corner shops got their cigarettes from wholesalers.
But under a direct to stores delivery (DSD) program instituted by Imperial Tobacco, which manufactures a commanding share of the Canadian cigarette market, retailers are being encouraged to buy direct from the tobacco company, retailers say.
Imperial has adopted a DSD initiative which sees stores get stock straight from the tobacco giant.
The problem with the system is it now costs more to go through wholesalers but Imperial, which is charging less for the same stock, has yet to work out the bugs in the shipping program, said store manager Tony Lahani.
Stores say they are ordering hundreds of cartons, but only receiving a fraction of those.
