Furniture Delays Due to Supply Chain and Logistical Issues

Misbar discovered the furniture delays are nationwide and happening to many brands and many retailers according to WCPO.com. Sean O'Brien, chief marketing officer of Modloft, a contemporary-furniture brand, blames a combination of soaring demand during the pandemic as homeowners redid their homes, combined with months-long delays getting fabric from places like India, China, and Vietnam: "Sixty percent of our items are on backorder currently," he said. "There are all sorts of places along the line where things can get backed up."

Businessofhome.com is in agreement that the furniture delays are based on a variety of factors: “Shutdowns of the manufacturing floor with the onset of COVID instigated an initial round of delays, which were compounded by a slow return to production as companies navigated new safety protocols. More than one year later, many major manufacturers still aren’t staffed at full pre-pandemic capacity, which makes it much harder to catch up on the backlog. And every time an employee tests positive for COVID, many more workers with whom they came into contact are sent home to quarantine, which only exacerbates the delays.”

In addition to supply chain issues, there is also a shortage of shipping containers. According to CNBC.com, a faster COVID-19 recovery in China is allowing them to send out a lot more exports to the U.S. and Europe than the other way round. As a result, containers are stuck in the West when they are really needed in Asia. There are about 180 million containers worldwide, but “they’re in the wrong place,” said Yeager of Redwood Logistics. A year ago, manufacturers were paying $2,300 or $2,500 for a container. Now, if they can get on the list, it’s $7,500 according to Businessofhome.com.