This Windsor Indigenous artisan says her business and clients will suffer from the Canada Post strike

An Indigenous entrepreneur who owns a jewellery and bead business selling its goods to rural and remote communities says she's distraught by the effect of the Canada Post strike on her business.

Kat Pasquach, who owns Culture Shock Jewelry in Windsor, says she supports the postal workers' right to strike but it will be hard on her and many of her clients.

Typically, Pasquach ships eight to 16 parcels a day to customers of her mail order business, she said. But that had dwindled to two by Tuesday in anticipation of the strike.

"It was a very unsettling feeling because the Canada Post strike isn't the only thing that's affecting the shop," she said.

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"I mean, overall, I would say spending is down across the retail industry."

Canada Post workers went on strike Friday just head of Black Friday and the holiday season. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers says more than 55,000 workers in urban, suburban and rural bargaining units are on strike seeking wage, pension and expanded postal services.

No Purolator or UPS in some communities

Pasquach can ship orders to urban areas by courier, though it adds considerably to the cost, she said; most of her customers benefited from Canada Post's small package rates that kept shipping under $5.

But customers in rural areas the majority of Pasquach's customers don't have the option to receive shipments by any means other than Canada Post.

"You're not able to get Purolator shipments into places like that, let alone, you know, something like UPS," she said.

Many of Pasquach's customers are artisans who rely on her business as a source of beads for their own projects, she explained.

They then run their own small businesses selling their crafts online.

"When I talk about our customer base, it primarily started with Indigenous people in rural and remote parts of Canada," said Pasquach, whose family is from James Bay.

"They don't have access to bead stores and big shops and ... there's no Walmart. .. So that was how we got started, you know,being able to offer affordable products with cheap shipping."

For many Indigenous artists in rural areas, their crafts are their livelihood, Pasquach said.

Now, many of those artisans are beside themselves.

"There is a lot of chatter online that people don't know how they're going to survive the holidays," she said.

'Do our best to adapt,' Downtown Windsor business says

Katie Stokes is one of the ownersof Whiskeyjack Boutique, a downtown Windsor gift shop that sells Canadian-made goods.

Stokes says their relationship with Canada Post "goes both ways" it's both how they receive inventory and ship items.

But she says they're working around it: The shop cleared its shipping queue ahead of the strike. They'veadvised customers of potential changes, promoted local delivery and adjusted their shipping options.

"We understand that unions need to do what they need to do to protect their workers," she said.

"Occasionally this is going to happen. It's not the first time and it's not the last, so we just do our best to adapt."