A relationship lasting longer than many marriages is nearing its end as the Pharmasave in the Westside Village Shopping Centre is being forced to close the postal office it has hosted for roughly 16 years.
Owner Alex Akhavan said the post office in his pharmacy is a revenue generating location in an area with a growing residential population, but Canada Post has decided it must close anyways for market reasons.
Akhavan said he has not been provided any data or market analysis to explain Canada Post’s decision, although he asked for it in email correspondence with Canada Post which he shared with CFAX 1070.
The correspondence from Canada Post said the decision to close the post office location was not a termination for poor performance, but rather based on an assessment of the appropriate level of service needed in the area.
Akhavan did not find this explanation compelling, and said he believes Canada Post may be closing up locations as a way of signalling action on the crown corporation’s financial woes.
“In effect, these operate as cost-neutral and revenue generating assets for Canada Post, but it appears they are making this decision for aesthetics, for optics,” Akhavan told CFAX 1070’s Al Ferraby.
Akhavan said the area surrounding his location is rapidly growing, and he doesn’t want to see a postal service gap for the area, which includes seniors and those without cars.
The correspondence between Akhavan and Canada Post which he shared with CFAX 1070 suggests there was a back-and-forth over several weeks, which ultimately got Akhavan nowhere in his quest to appeal the decision.
The original notice Akhavan received was titled a “termination of dealership agreement,” and suggested he was operating a postal outlet with an expired dealership agreement, which Akhavan contested.
Akhavan sent documentation which suggests his agreement was set to expire this upcoming October, not October of 2023 as originally listed in Canada Post’s communication. Later, a manager with Canada Post’s retail network operations would apologize for what they described as a clerical or an administrative error, but said Canada Post still wouldn’t be renewing the dealership agreement with Akhavan’s business.
Canada Post told CFAX 1070 the crown corporation will not disclose details on individual agreements with our retail post office partners, or share details on why it is not renewing the dealership agreement at this location. However, Canada Post did confirm services will no longer be available at this location as of end of day on Tuesday, October 28, and thanked Akhavan for a relationship of 16 years. The crown corporation also told CFAX 1070 it has an extensive review process to evaluate its retail postal outlet network.
“We are confident that customers will be well-served by the postal outlets located at the Shoppers Drug Mart stores at 870 Esquimalt Road and 1212 Douglas Street, and the Victoria Main Post Office at 709 Yates Street,” the statement read.
Akhavan was on CFAX 1070 with Al Ferraby on Friday (Sept. 12):