‘Tis the season for early shopping
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Tymara McDowell, left, and Jennings Berry drove from Morgantown to meet McDowell’s mother, Shauna McDowell, and grandmother Beatrice Hairston at Tanger Outlets for an afternoon of holiday shopping last week. Like many other locals, the four started gift shopping before Thanksgiving and Black Friday, which is usually the official start of the holiday shopping season.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Victoria Strawn, who has owned the boutique, Accents, for nearly two decades, has holiday inventory on display at her shop in Quail Acres. Strawn said she’s met new customers in the last couple months, but noted people aren’t shopping in-person as often as they did pre-pandemic.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Experts say because of supply chain and other issues facing the economy, shoppers should begin buying for the holidays as soon as possible.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
It’s beginning to look a lot like (an early) Christmas at several local stores. Shoppers leave Accents at Quail Acres with bright snowflake bags and shimmery ornaments.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Amber McCrerey, left, Pat McCrerey and Kaylee Atkins were among several groups of shoppers checking items off their Christmas lists ahead of Thanksgiving and Black Friday. The three women were shopping at Tanger Outlets in South Strabane Township.
For habitual last-minute shoppers, this holiday season may be the year to get gift shopping done early.
With supply chain issues, David Iwinski Jr. thinks consumers may have trouble getting everything on their list if they wait too long.
“If it’s on the shelves now, I’d do the Christmas shopping this weekend,” Iwinski said.
Iwinski is the founder and Managing Director of the North Huntingdon-based Blue Water Growth, which works with companies to manage their supply chains and manufacturing.
Iwinski said he has been traveling to China for 37 years, and lived there for five. Prior to the pandemic, he would travel to China six or seven times a year. He also used to run advanced manufacturing for Respironics, a medical supply company based in Murrysville.
According to Iwinski, the current supply chain issues were not caused by COVID-19, but they were exacerbated by it. He pointed to a host of political and economic issues in China that predate the pandemic. He compared the situation to a game of Jenga.
“If you could imagine all the problems in China, COVID was just one little block that came out. It collapsed the whole thing,” Iwinski said.
He added that China has also been restricting the electricity supply due to coal shortages, which will lead to more factories closing.
“What’s going to happen over Christmas is in fact not a shortage that will be over in February,” Iwinski said.
One of the biggest shortages currently is computer chips, according to Iwinski. Chips are needed for myriad products, such as video game consoles, phones, computers and even vehicles.
“(Chips) are so problematic,” Iwinski said. “Dodge Ram closed a plant for an entire month. They could get all the other things, but they couldn’t get the chips.”
Japanese video game company Nintendo recently announced the chip shortage was forcing it to cut production of its popular Switch console by 20%.
Even if companies get the parts they need, Iwinski said there are other hurdles along the way before those products get to store shelves. Some large retailers, like Costco, have chartered their own cargo ships, but that solution only goes so far.
“That’s a really bold action. That being the case, they got those ships a month or two ago. Even if they’re loaded and on the ocean, there are hundreds of ships waiting to be unloaded,” Iwinski said. “Once they get them unloaded, there is a bit of a shortage of truck drivers. Not to mention the cost of diesel fuel.”
Iwinski admits he is often a last-minute shopper, but he did not want to take any chances this year.
“I’m already done with my shopping. Anyone that waits until the last minute is going to find very bare shelves,” Iwinski said.
When it comes to holiday shopping, people are not just buying the latest gadgets, but also preparing for meals with friends and families.
Though there are concerns about shortages of traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas meals, Giant Eagle spokesperson Jannah Jablonowski said the grocery store chain has prepared for this.
“We anticipated some of these trends. We feel we’re in a very good position, relatively speaking,” Jablonowski said.
Giant Eagle also had to adjust for how the pandemic changed shopping habits. Jablonowski said last year, the grocery chain noticed customers were buying smaller turkeys.
This year, she said, they prepared to have larger turkeys in anticipation that many may return to large family gatherings.
“We feel very confident in the stock position we are able to present our guests. We had a lot of people working around the clock to plan for this. We want to shift that focus back on to spending time with loved ones, and worry a little bit less about how hard they’re going to search for the ingredients they need,” Jablonowski said.
“That’s not necessarily to say there aren’t supply chain issues. It’s well documented,” she added.
In dealing with those supply chain issues, Jablonowski warned that if you’re loyal to a specific brand, it may not be available. She said Giant Eagle has had to work with new suppliers to keep the shelves filled.
“We know you might like a specific brand of gravy. We are confident we are going to have a substitute in that category for you,” Jablonowski said.
Even with the preparation, Jablonowski said customers should still shop early.
“We’re letting people know not to panic. Purchase the amount you need, and avoid that bulk buying mentality if it is not necessary for their family,” Jablonowski said.