Over the past year-and-a-half, there have been a lot of challenges in the casual world—from supply chain and material shortages to factory and store shutdowns, and more.
But constantly thinking about how detrimental these things have been to the industry isn’t going to help move us forward. Sure, we need to learn from the past, but we also need to focus on the future and what we can look forward to.
For that reason, we reached out to several casual industry members to see what they’re optimistic about right now and for the future.
I am very optimistic about the future. I am looking forward to stability in the market and supply chain. We have also moved our company (manufacturing, offices, everything) halfway across the country during this pandemic, which has come with its own set of challenges. But I see the light at the end of the tunnel in that sense, and I know we will overcome. I am looking forward to the HUGE party we will have when our lead times are back to 4-6 weeks! – Leisa McCollister, OW Lee
Things are optimistic as far as business conditions for anyone in the home furnishings industry. I think it bodes particularly well for brick-and-mortar retail stores because they have that local footprint and the ability to stock products. I look back 30 years or so, and early buys were large and special orders were not. There wasn’t a lot of product online or in the masses either, it was dominated by brick-and-mortar. The optimism I see is for the brick-and-mortar retailers of today, over the last year in a half they’ve sold through any leftover inventory they had and any new inventory they can get their hands on.
The real key to a retailer’s success is partnering with a manufacturer that can restock them but also provide a special order. Our factory was able to increase its capacity substantially over the past 15 months. It will be harder to increase at the same rate, but we do have plans to do that with more employees, equipment, and trying to manage the raw material, which is tricky. – Henry Vanderminden, Telescope Casual
Like all of us in the casual industry, we are looking forward to some sort of normalcy in the supply chain. Fabric and raw material shortages continue to make manufacturing difficult, and we anticipate that these obstacles will remain in place well into 2022 and perhaps beyond. Layer in the huge freight rates and lack of equipment both on the import and domestic side, and doing business continues to be challenging.
We are very pleased with the sales increases our industry is experiencing, so we are doing everything we can to capitalize on this momentum. In addition to increasing manufacturing space in China, we are expanding our warehousing in Los Angeles to better service our customer’s needs. We have adjusted our quick-ship models and challenged the factory as well as our suppliers to help us increase our domestic and import inventories in order to meet our dealer’s demand. – Candy Chase, Treasure Garden
One of the things that we’re optimistic about is the pandemic has forced us to look at our systems and procedures within our own organization, find the weak points and fix them. On our logistics side, it’s really forced us—from how we organize LTL to how we organize our employees and warehouse— to add structure to what they do on a daily basis. As things even out, we’re much more efficient with our employees and our time. And on the sales side, our communication with our production and planning schedules forced us to get more efficient at that. We’ve also hired about five new people, most of them full-time, and we’re working on getting another office building because our team has grown so much. – Tad Varga, Three Birds Casual
There’s greater importance and a bigger focus on the outdoor living space. When I first got into the business, I would give lectures to interior designers, and the uphill battle was to get them to not forget about the outdoor living space. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had conversations with designers who finished the interior but don’t have anything left in the budget for the outdoor space.
Outdoor was always an afterthought. But I think one of the biggest positives to come out of the whole last year and a half is that people are finally getting it. That whole outdoor area is on equal par with the spaces inside the house. You can make an argument that it’s even higher. Look how demand has surged specifically for all outdoor products. – William Kruzel, Mamagreen
Most of the retailers, they’re hectic and harried, but they’re also pretty ripe with cash. They’re confident in their ability to get through this. The other thing is, for us, because of the demand from the consumers, our designer business is through the roof. A lot of customers are waiting for pools and spas, so a lot of the retailers and manufacturers know they have another good year in this because consumers are waiting for their yards to be done, so there’s still some momentum out there.
At the ICFA Preview Show, there were more retailers and people that were talking at the high level, and very little commiserating. There was lots of collaboration and great conversation. Even that gave me a lot of hope about what’s going on out there. People have good attitudes and are happy that business is going well, they just wish it was easier to manage. – John Dorney, Sunset West
There are many bright spots for the industry. We’re seeing innovative outdoor living products that help people better enjoy their homes, and we believe incredible demand for these products will continue as consumers embrace year-round outdoor living. At Sunbrella, we’re grateful to be part of such a collaborative outdoor furnishings industry.
While this record demand hasn’t come without challenges, the past year has provided the outdoor furnishings industry with new opportunities to rethink everything from product development to operations to support long-term growth ahead. We are optimistic about the future and how sustained demand in outdoor living combined with new investments and ways of thinking will yield growth for the industry as a whole. – David Swers, Sunbrella
We have had a really nice start to the year and see signs to keep that going. Consumer demand is there, but shipping issues this year have made it a tough start. We see that continuing to slowly improve, which will be good for the entire industry. Through Covid, many of us in the rug industry have had to learn to think outside the box and learn to market ourselves in new, creative ways. That has also helped move the industry forward. – Wendy Reiss, KAS Rugs
