TORONTO — The owner of the Toronto Star newspaper is getting into the parcel delivery business with a new courier service targeted at retailers.
Torstar Corp. says it has launched Metroland Parcel Services in a bid to help Ontario businesses get packages to consumers in a fast and cost-effective way.
The company says the service will utilize Torstar’s contracted driver network to offer retailers next-day and standard two or three-day deliveries that can be tracked.
The new service comes after Torstar was sold to Nordstar Capital LP earlier this year and as the newspaper business has been forced to reduce costs and lay off staff amid declining revenues and shrinking advertising dollars.
Torstar estimates the Ontario parcel delivery market is worth an estimated $4.5 billion a year and that almost 50 per cent of consumers will shop online this year as COVID-19 continues to ravage the province.
Torstar’s new offering will put it in competition with delivery heavyweights like Purolator and Canada Post, but the company says it has already managed to deliver its first parcels on behalf of Toys “R” Us Canada.
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Torstar holds an investment in The Canadian Press as part of a joint agreement with subsidiaries of the Globe and Mail and Montreal’s La Presse.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 17, 2020
