As the days get longer, the weather turns and the pandemic news is better every day, there is a lot to be thankful for. Dare I say, we may be turning the corner on a very long year? No doubt, this year also brought a boom to the interior design industry. There are many reasons for that - forced time at home, the desire for comfort in our surroundings, less money spent on travel - just to name a few. That increased demand has been met with staggering lead times across the industry. We’ve spent a lot of time telling our lovely clients that their furniture, wallpaper, lighting - you name it - is backordered or delayed. Sometimes it’s the manufacturer, other times freight or just plain demand that doesn’t match the supply. We are grateful to work with people who have perspective and can usually understand frustrating delays with a good attitude. That said, nobody likes to wait! If it helps you to understand the vagaries of the marketplace and how Covid has complicated the supply chain, please
read along!
The custom chair in this cozy corner would normally take about 6-8 weeks to arrive. With today’s delays, it would be closer to a 16 week lead time.
With the start of the pandemic in the early winter of 2019, major factory shutdowns started to happen in China and then eventually around the globe. Some facilities were shut down for weeks or months as the extent of the virus’ spread was realized. The economic uncertainty felt globally through the early months of 2020 and longer also meant that retailers and importers cut back, postponed and even cancelled large orders.
Despite continued uncertainty, the bounce back in the home furnishings and renovation industry came on strong by June of 2020. This surprising uptick in demand found manufacturers with new strict Covid protocols in place for social distancing and quarantining - meaning production was exceedingly slow when compared to demand.
Here is an example of a custom sofa from a popular retailer. Even a custom fabric on a standard frame is taking double the pre-Covid time to arrive.
The shipping industry has also been disrupted - fewer drivers are available (many were hit hard by Covid themselves or in their families), container costs have almost tripled and the surge in demand has made it complicated to deliver goods in a timely fashion even once they have been produced. Add to this the backlog of paused manufacturing and you have a perfect storm that explains why your beautiful custom sofa has potentially a 16 week lead time even a year later in 2021.
This lovely custom banquette would have a normal lead time around 8-10 weeks. In 2021 times, while we would chat with the maker, the lead time would be closer to
16-18 weeks.
Finally, the recent winter storms on the Gulf Coast caused several large chemical plants that produce the majority of stateside upholstery foam to cease production. This latest hiccup is already showing impacts on recently ordered furniture pieces as there is literally not enough product to use for manufacturing already existing orders.
We are selecting furniture earlier and earlier in the process to try to buffer some of the time spent waiting on pieces through construction.
The minutia of the supply chain is not light reading, nor necessarily pleasant but it really does trickle down to actual conversations we are having with clients. Trust me, we don’t enjoy delivering the news that your product is delayed and we are equally frustrated! We have shifted some of our in-house practices to include even more frequent follow-ups with vendors and despite us sounding like a Debbie Downer, we are likely to quote you the longest lead time we can imagine upon ordering. Despite the delays, we love when beautiful custom pieces arrive for patient clients to enjoy long past the pandemic and look forward to a return to more manageable delivery times.