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Amazon delivery stations in Winnipeg not a major concern for local delivery businesses

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Amazon’s two new delivery stations in Winnipeg – the first in the province – aren’t a major concern for some delivery service companies operating in Manitoba.

“Part of our plan here is to help the local community be able to get things out the door to their customers,” said Christina Malinas, general manager for Trexity, a new delivery service for Winnipeg businesses that launched on Tuesday.

Malinas made the comments inside of Danali, a clothing boutique that’s had a physical storefront on Kenaston Boulevard for years.

Danali can now facilitate deliveries by using Trexity’s pool of drivers, who are alerted to orders through a smartphone app, pick up an item from the store, then go directly to a customer’s door.

It’s a step away from the “warehouse model” employed by the likes of Amazon, where items are stockpiled then delivered.

“It would be amazing if Danali could have a huge fulfilment centre so they can ship things out,” said Malinas. “But most times that’s not the case so we’re bringing that power back to merchants.”

Amazon Canada is expecting an uptick in orders from Manitobans this holiday season, with the new delivery stations poised to “significantly increase delivery speeds,” a spokesperson for the company said in a statement to CTV News.

There are about 30,000 packages expected to be shipped from both warehouses, on average, every day, according to Amazon Canada.

The company also said its increased presence in Manitoba won’t hurt smaller businesses.

“We are committed to the small- and medium-sized business community,” Amazon said in a statement, “We are proud to support approximately 40,000 small- and medium-sized businesses across Canada.”

Prairie Flavours is a food-focused delivery service that only sells Manitoba-made items and sends out deliveries to customers once a week.

“I think there will be room for us no matter how large Amazon grows,” said founder Joshua Vatnsdal, who is already noticing an uptick in orders as Manitobans start their holiday shopping.

“People are starting to get their shopping done, getting their stocking stuffers,” he said, “The buy local movement is still going strong so people are searching out those items.”

Vatnsdal adds that Manitobans should also think about ordering local items beyond the holiday season, to help grow the province’s economy.

That’s a sentiment shared by GoodLocal.ca co-founder Obby Khan.

“People are supporting local,” said Khan, with GoodLocal.ca also seeing an uptick in orders for the holidays.

“The real key thing with supporting local, it can’t just be in November and December, it has to be year-round.”

“We’re not competing with Amazon (our products) are totally different.”

Khan adds that, unlike international retailers, GoodLocal.ca is avoiding supply chain-related delays in product shipments since most of the company’s inventory is made in Manitoba.

“The only delay we’re experiencing in deliveries is when we have too many orders and only so many drivers.”

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