Sveta I am so sorry to hear this. We do get robbed with both shipping and the fees. My son ordered poker chips from the U.S. and fedex charged him about $70 for the fees. It was insane. People in Winnipeg were so outraged that Fedex started offering the option that you could take the paperwork to customs yourself and bring it back to pick up your parcel. They used a pricing scale that was based on the value so even if it was a very small package that shipped for a few dollars, you could pay $100 for fees if it was pricey.
I don't think opening more U.S. stores in Canada will help. There was outrage when J Crew opened in Canada and the prices were 20-25% higher than in the U.S. and we could no longer order from the U.S. site. At the time, our dollar was either at par or higher than the U.S. dollar.
I had my shirts delivered to Pembina (1 hour from home and 5 minutes over the border). It was $5 to pick up the package and no duty, taxes or fees so I got two shirts for $94 or something close to that..
Lands end is very good. They often have free shipping to Canada and don't charge fees in addition to the duty and taxes and they have a Canadian mailing address for returns and charge a flat rate of $7.95 so you aren't out too much if it doesn't work.
