With Christmas a week away, supply chain puts kink in holiday shopping

With a week left to go before Christmas, some DeKalb County shoppers may be experiencing trouble finding that specific gift, whether a toy, a piece of furniture or holiday meal ingredient.

It’s the latest impact in an almost two-year disruption of global supply chains for goods and services, exasperated by the pervasiveness of the COVID-19 pandemic, which also has impacted workers in areas such as manufacturing, delivery and health care.

Trixy O’Flaherty, owner of Gordon Hardware in downtown DeKalb, said the supply chain shortages she has been experiencing lately look a little different than they did in March 2020, toward the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“You’re trying to get shipping issues dealt with that were already an issue and then there’s just this hole,” O’Flaherty said.

Kinks in the chain

So what’s to blame for the latest kink in life the way it was before the pandemic?

Carl Campbell, an economics and chairman of Northern Illinois University’s Department of Economics, said some industries still might be playing catch up from lengthened shutdowns in 2020.

“Some of it has to do with when COVID-19 first happened,” Campbell said. “Manufacturing places were shut down, a lot of things were not being produced. There is still less supply of everything you want because places had been shut down for a while, and now they have to catch up.”

The original shut down put manufacturing places in a hole that they have been trying to climb out of for almost two years now, Campbell said, forcing them to deal with backorder, plus the additional demand for goods that started to come in on top of that.

“It put the supply chains in a bind, because of the huge increase in demand,” Campbell said. “All the stimulus payments people received is allowing them to buy a lot more.”

Suppliers were caught so flat-footed by how fast pent-up spending surged out of the recession that they won’t likely be able to catch up as long as demand remains so robust. That’s especially so because Americans, still hunkered down at home more than they did before the pandemic, continue to spend more on goods – electronics, furniture, appliances, sporting goods – than on services such as hotels, meals out and movie tickets. All that demand for goods, in turn, is helping to accelerate U.S. inflation.

The problems aren’t just consumer drive, however.

In the hardware world, O’Flaherty said raw material shortages are to blame in some instances, like striping paint for construction purposes being in short supply due to a lack of vinyl resin. She also said staffing issues contributed to product shortages as well, including circuit breakers being difficult to get for at least six months because of manufacturing plants having to close because of COVID-19 related reasons.

On the plus side, O’Flaherty said, the widespread supply shortage issues are not affecting sales competition.

“I find some comfort in that because ... you’re not always losing sales to one of the big guys because they’re having the same problems that we are,” O’Flaherty said.

O’Flaherty also said a good portion of those products that are in high demand but short supply are likely held in waiting in shipping container off shore waiting to be unloaded.

“The product’s made, it’s ready to go, but it’s got to get off that ship,” O’Flaherty said. “Once it gets off that ship, then it’s got to get on a truck. And all of those pieces are just adding more and more time.”

Getting gifts

According to the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights and Analytics 2021 Consumer Holiday Survey, consumers plan to spend on average $997.73 on gifts, holiday items and other non-gift purchases for themselves and their families this year. This year, 90% of U.S. adults plan to celebrate the upcoming holidays, including Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, up from 87% last year.

The top gift consumers want to receive this holiday season, at 56%, is gift cards. Clothing and accessories was 47%, books and other media 32%, electronics 26%, home décor 23%, personal care and jewelry both 20%, home improvement and sporting goods both 16% and other 7%.

Vickie Obermiller, the owner of Kid Stuff, 149 E. Lincoln Highway in DeKalb, said that the most in-demand items at her store this year include wooden toys, thematic holiday-themed clothing and toys, LEGOS, board games and puzzles.

“People have been stopping by for everything, all types of items,” Obermiller said. “People are searching for gifts for family and friends, stocking stuffers, entire outfits, toys and books.”

Obermiller describes her shop as “a one-stop shop for shoppers with tiny people in their lives.” Kid Stuff is a new children’s item boutique, as well as having a large selection of “curated, previously-loved items.” The store sells items for children, from maternity through elementary school-age.

“I think there’s definitely been an uptick in shopping local, not just now for the holidays, but year-round,” Obermiller said. “People are searching for unique items, different items, ones that aren’t so mass-produced.”

The survey also included information about where consumers plan to make their holiday purchases: 57% will shop online, 47% at a department store, 44% at a discount store, 43% at a grocery store, 30% at a clothing or accessories store, 24% at local or small businesses, 20% at an electronics store, and the remaining at crafts stores, outlets, drugstores, thrift shops, and in catalogs.

According to the survey, popular children’s toys this year include LEGO products, Barbie and American Girl dolls, Apple products, Hotwheels, video gaming consoles such as Playstation, Nintendo Switch and Xbox and toys from popular children’s entertainment such as Paw Patrol, Disney’s Frozen and Nintendo’s Pokemon.

Philip Henrikson, owner of There’s Fun in Store, 229 E. Lincoln Highway in DeKalb, said that Pokemon cards remain one of his top-selling items.

The store in downtown DeKalb has more than 1 million Pokemon cards and more than 5 million Magic the Gathering cards. Henrikson said that the store’s sticker locker, which is full of bins of pop-culture themed stickers, is also popular with customers. The store also has an in-house brand of dice, Test Tube Dice, which can be used for a variety of games.

Henrikson said that he ordered lots of product early on and planned ahead this holiday season because of possible supply chain shortages and high demand. Henrikson also renovated his store over the summer, adding a new store layout, new sound and security systems, a second checkout counter and a 6-foot touch screen kiosk.

“It’s been great to see our store growing year over year since we started,” he said. “I loaded up on products in advance because everything is up in the air with the supply chain.”

Henrikson said what sets There’s Fun in Store apart from other shops is its community involvement, including partnerships with homeschool groups, the DeKalb Public Library and local cleanup group Trash Squirrels.

“We’re as proudly DeKalb as it gets,” he said. “We’re neighbors here in DeKalb, and we want to be providing something worth supporting in town, too. Our goal is for people to find something in our store, shop and support local, so we can continue to do a lot of good things in the community.”

Shoppers not only are looking for toys and games this holiday season.

Will Linn, the manager at Curly’s Furniture, 1901 E. Lincoln Highway in DeKalb, said that couches, especially sectionals, have been popular lately, and wait times for purchases not in stock can be significant.

That’s why he’s loaded up on supplies in advance, he said.

“We have quite a few in-stock options, and grays and neutral colors have been very popular for couches,” Linn said. “Our in-stock items fluctuate quite frequently, especially because we have holiday deals and a lot of business before the new year.”

‘Same dog food, different can’

Although O’Flaherty said she is seeing the supply shortage situation improve, she said she thinks if manufacturers limited product options that could alleviate some issues.

”If we had the prettier retail packaging for coat hooks, those companies often sell that product in the pretty retail packaging, they also sell it in bulk, or they also sell it in a cheap plastic bag with a barcode on it,” O’Flaherty said. “Same dog food, different cans. It’s the exact same hook. It’s just three different packages.”

O’Flaherty said the co-op her shop is part of, Do it Best, offers resources to connect her business to alternative suppliers in the region, which often include other small Illinois businesses. However, she said it would be nice to see a more streamlined communication process countrywide among manufacturing and logistics.

“Because I think that’s been one of the biggest holes in all of this,” O’Flaherty said.

She said she encourages consumers stay flexible and open-minded when it comes to purchasing products, and to continue to shop local, one way to help with supply issues.

Linn said he encourages customers to communicate with business owners. He said that there is an average wait time of 15 to 20 weeks for any item not in stock at his furniture store. However, Curly’s Furniture also has a 30,000 square foot warehouse in Streator to keep in-demand items in stock.

“Just call us and ask if we have what you’re looking for,” Linn said. “If we don’t have it, we’ll order it, but there is usually a wait time.”

• The Associated Press contributed to this story.