struggling to get the orders through. Mitchell Szpicek, owner of Little Things Toy Store, is preparing for the larger crowds and navigating through the crisis.
He says many of his shipments are being delayed. For months, the network of ports, container vessels and trucking companies that move goods around the world have been caught up in a supply chain grid lock–making it hard for stores to buy certain toys.
“There are many ships waiting to come in and they can’t because it’s a shortage of workers at the ports. We’re finding that shipments that would normally take one week, two weeks, are now taking two months and some items we cannot even get until six months, a year from now,” said Szpicek.
He says because the demand for toys is higher than the supply the prices of shipments that he’s ordering are inflated. “We’re calling different distributors trying to find the toys that people want. We have to order months in advance, and we have to order larger quantities,” said Szpicek.
As the holiday season approaches, he says he’s urging people to start their holiday shopping early.
