Product availability is proving to be the top concern plaguing dealers everywhere this year. In fact, the supply chain issue has become so acute that Home Depot purchased equity in ships of its own coming out of Asia, while Canadian Tire made news last year when it secured ownership of a port in British Columbia.
Now, one plucky independent has combined the strategies of those retail giants—with the bold step of securing both a port and a boat to ensure a steady flow of product to his store’s shelves.
Jock Shitely, owner of BS Building Supplies in Deux-Pieds-à-Gauche, Man., has made a ground-breaking deal with the port authority of Pluckville, a neighbouring town with a “deep-water” harbour and a pier to serve it.
“This setup will be very handy for my inventory needs,” Shitely told Hardlines in an exclusive interview (honestly, nobody else would talk to him—Editor). “The pier sits alongside a very deep channel. It’s definitely over my head, anyway,” he noted.
And the vessel to transport the goods? “Oh, that was thrown in with the deal for the dock, I mean the pier, as long as I get it pumped out. Pumped out and fumigated.”
Shitely is already developing plans to bring product in from offshore, and has borrowed his brother-in-law’s garage to store goods. “He’s kind of an idjit, but he’s going to let me pile product up at his place. I just have to get him a new garage door opener.”
That device is actually on back-order, however, and Shitely expects to make it part of the boat’s first shipment.
When asked about the fact that the town of Pluckville is landlocked, except for the spring-fed lake it is nestled beside, Shitely paused for several seconds. “Yes. That could be a problem, now that you mention it,” he responded thoughtfully.
“Good thing I kept the old Studebaker station wagon.”
