Yellowknife (Sep 13/06) - A major tobacco company's decision to deliver its products directly to retailers has created confusion and in some cases cigarette shortages at Yellowknife stores.

"We're completely out of all Player's and DuMaurier (cigarettes)," said Extra Foods manager Rob Byers.

"The only information I have is that Imperial (Tobacco) is going to a direct-to-retail distribution and exactly how they are doing that, I haven't a clue."

In May, Imperial Tobacco, makers of Player's, Matinee, Cameo and DuMaurier brand cigarettes, announced changes to its supply chain that would bypass wholesalers, and deal directly with retailers instead.

Before the changes, Extra Foods and other Yellowknife retailers received their Imperial cigarettes from a central warehouse distributor in Edmonton.

Byers added that sources have told him it will be "a few weeks" before the new system is operational.

Reddi Mart convenience store owner Qui Pham is also in the dark about when her next supply of Imperial Tobacco will arrive.

"(The tobacco) will come directly from the factory in Montreal but Imperial didn't give us any information about how to order," she said.

As of Friday, her store has about a week's worth of Player's and DuMaurier cigarettes on the shelf. "We don't keep a lot of stock and rotate it every week."

Catherine Doyle, Imperial Tobacco's manager of corporate communications in Montreal, told News/North last week that the direct-to-retailer system - initiated Sept. 5 - is only intended for urban areas down south.

They had planned to continue using wholesalers for the North and other remote areas of the country.

The four main wholesalers for the NWT, however, had chosen to stop carrying the company's products two weeks ago without notifying the company, she said.

"We found out through the retailers," said Doyle.

She said plans are being worked out to put the flow of cigarettes to the NWT back on track over the next two to four weeks, she said.

When Yellowknife smokers were confronted with news of a possible cigarette shortage, reaction was perhaps predictable.

"You're joking, right?" asked Matthew Myers, while puffing on a Player's cigarette during an afternoon break outside the Centre Mall. "Well, I'll probably go and buy a couple extra packs right now."

For Troy Hayward, news of a potential shortage first elicited some humour, then a practical strategy.

"I guess I'll run around and pull the butts out of ashtrays," he joked. "But seriously, I'll cut down, I guess. Or switch to snuff."