TORONTO – Torstar Corporation, publisher of the Toronto Star and numerous community newspapers, has launched a parcel delivery service for Ontario retailers.
Metroland Parcel Services began operations by delivering parcels on behalf of Toys”R”Us Canada.
Torstar companies have delivered newspapers and flyers to most neighbourhoods in Ontario every week for more than 100 years. Metroland utilizes its contracted driver network to provide both next-day and standard two-to-three-day delivery.
The service offers delivery guarantees, real-time parcel tracking, photo delivery confirmation and next-day re-delivery. The new service also provides integration into existing technology platforms.
TorStar saw the $4.5 billion Ontario parcel delivery market as a new business opportunity.
Jordan Bitove, co-owner of Torstar, said a huge benefit for clients of Metroland Delivery Services is that Torstar knows southern Ontario, with a history of delivery across the entire region for more than a century.
“We deliver billions of newspapers and flyers every year in Ontario,” Bitove added. “We have the experience to deliver quality results for retailers, with reliable, secure and consistent delivery solutions from city centres to rural communities. We have the warehouses, the depots, the trucking relationships, the targeting capabilities and the client relationships.”
“As we have all seen, retail e-commerce revenue is growing rapidly and the impact of COVID-19 has accelerated it,” said Paul Rivett, chair and co-owner of Torstar Corporation. “As a result, some traditional parcel delivery organizations are struggling to meet service level commitments and major retailers are seeking ways to deal with this problem.
Rivett added that “the Metroland parcel delivery business radically changes the economics of the newspaper and flyer delivery business by utilizing existing infrastructure to significantly lower the cost of goods sold.”
“E-commerce delivery has become a bottleneck for Canadian merchants,” said Vic Bertrand, president and CEO of Toys”R”Us Canada.
“And in our business, the ‘Grinch’ is delays in getting kids their toys!”
Torstar Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nordstar Capital LP, is a broadly-based holding company whose businesses include the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest daily newspaper, six regional daily newspapers in Ontario and more than 70 weekly community newspapers in Ontario.
Torstar also holds a majority interest in VerticalScope, a North American vertically-focused digital media company, among a broad range of other businesses and investments.
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