Ottawa businesses importing from U.S. suffer from weak loonie

The weak Canadian dollar is hurting local businesses that import from the U.S., forcing prices to go up in some stores.

Modern furniture store EQ3 sent out a notice to shoppers earlier this month that the price of American-made Herman Miller furniture would rise by 25 per cent as a direct result of the weak Canadian dollar.

The manager of Kitchenalia, a Westboro store that specializes in kitchen gadgets and accessories for home chefs and professionals, said the price of some products have gone up seven to 10 per cent recently.

“Some of our distributors, if they’re coming across the border, they’ve been absorbing the costs for the last three years for us and now they’re saying they can’t absorb that for us anymore,” said Robin Coull.

Still, she said the prices of some products have also gone down and, given fluctuations in the economy, the store has no plan to give up on American products.

“We try to source as much Canadian products as we can, definitely, but we really love our manufacturers and our companies at the moment, so we’re definitely sticking with the really good brands that we love,” she said.

Marie-France Marquis, who owns the Westboro glassware and accessory store Half Full, said most of her inventory, such as espresso makers and wine cellars, are imported. As the Canadian dollar dropped, she said the cost of importing products has increased by an average of five to 10 per cent.

"The drop in the value of the Canadian dollar has affected the price of our products, so they're going up and we feel the impact on consumers, as well," she said.

“I find also in the National Capital Region, there’s a lot of uncertainty about the local economy linked to the job cuts in the federal government, so again people, customers, are being cautious when making important purchasing decisions.”

Currency 'ongoing frustration' for small businesses

While some small business owners are struggling with the effect of the weak dollar, others are pleased, said Ted Mallett, the chief economist for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

The lobby group represents more than 100,000 small business owners.

“Roughly 25 per cent of our members, when asked, would say they would like to see the value of the dollar go lower, and about the same amount would like to see the value go higher,” he said, adding that the remaining 50 per cent say the value of the dollar doesn’t have a direct impact on their business.

Mallett said the fluctuation can be a business challenge no matter the preferred exchange rate.

"The currency has been one of the ongoing frustrations for small business owners. It's up in one particular year and it's down big time in another. They have to deal with these kinds of swings ," he said.

"Businesses have always had to deal with these kinds of uncertainties. The trouble is small firms don't have the ability to, or as much opportunity to hedge their bets."