The general manager of Yellowknife’s Co-op says a cyber attack has temporarily “crippled” the store’s distribution centre, causing some bare spots on shelves.
Justin Nelson said the cybersecurity breach at Federated Co-op Limited has affected the store’s ability to order goods from the warehouse in Edmonton.
He said currently, goods are being distributed to Yellowknife based on the store’s sales velocity and best-selling items until warehouse operations are back up and running as usual.
“Hopefully this doesn’t last too much longer,” he said, “but I can tell you it’s certainly not fun.”
In a June 27 statement, Federated Co-op Limited said it had experienced a cybersecurity incident affecting some of its customer-facing systems. The group said it had shut down some systems as a precaution and an investigation was under way.
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In a follow-up statement, the company said there was no evidence any customer data had been compromised.
The cyber breach has affected many Co-op stores in western Canada.
Nelson noted the attack came before the Canada Day long weekend, one of the Yellowknife store’s biggest food sales weeks of the year.
He said the store’s fresh departments have seen the greatest impact.
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“We got hit really hard at the wrong time of the year, but we did manage to get through it,” he said.
“It could be worse. Everything could always be worse.”
Nelson said the store is ordering through direct suppliers and finding other ways to bring in products.
He encouraged shoppers to continue visiting the store to shop as usual.
“It’s a minor disruption,” he said. “We’ve been through a lot over the years here in Yellowknife.”
