Calgary-area store owner anxious about holiday shopping season amid supply chain slowdowns
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jazon Gatela found himself at home with his kids, playing a lot of video games.
After learning that a lot of other people were doing the same thing, he decided to open Senshen, a store in New Horizon Mall dedicated to outdoor adventure products and video games – including retro ones.
"I found a passion to sell some of the stuff that people are interested in," said Gatela. "They're going back to their childhood memories."
Gatela says he has had no problem finding customers, but he has faced challenges getting products.
His store has been open for nearly two years and has been plagued by global supply chain issues from the start.
He complains many of the games and toys he is selling took months to arrive from overseas.
Last spring, he pre-sold paddle boards to customers wanting to use them in the summer. Despite it now being November, some still haven't arrived, forcing Gatela to issue refunds and deal with frustrated customers.
Heading into the busy holiday shopping season, it's only getting worse.
"The shipping itself… before, our experience was only three months," he said. "Now, they will tell you from three months to one year, and there is no guarantee that it will arrive on time. And the price is ridiculous, its super expensive."
Gatela says most of his product, especially electronics, comes from overseas and that's where the delays start.
He says wholesalers are encouraging retailers to place bigger, single orders rather than smaller ones every few months, given the delays.
However, Gatela is hoping to find more items within North American to put on his shelves while also increasing his reliance by reselling used video games, which he can simply buy from local customers.
He also hopes his customers will cut retailers some slack.
"People are getting impatient," he said. "It works out one a bad review on my website. I end up refunding money and all that stuff, and it can be a terrible experience."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit natural gas levies to the federal government, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer filled with relief and grief following acquittal in death of Toronto police officer
'We hoped for this day, but we were scared that it would not never ever come because it took so long.' That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.
North Bay doctor accused of assaulting patient, threatening another
A North Bay doctor is facing charges after allegedly assaulting a patient with a weapon and threatening another person at the hospital, police say.