In much of the country, the outdoor season is ending and winter is on its way, which is a reminder for many retailers that inventory — and the timing of its arrival — are both crucial to consider for the bottom line.
That’s especially true if you consider the recent past — supply chain problems, especially high costs of delivery from Asia, delayed deliveries, retroactive price increases from manufacturers, and unbelievable demand during the Covid pandemic.
Several veteran retailers talked to Casual News Now about today’s inventory challenges.
Eli Hymer of Gasper Home & Garden Showplace in Richboro, Pennsylvania, said that he bought more inventory than usual to be sure that he had enough on hand, only to discover that sales dropped off.
“The slowdown started much earlier than I had anticipated, so I had product carrying over into 2023,” Hymer said. “With some companies, I had to give them substitute orders. By the time I had my early buys from 2022 in, they are actually becoming early buys for 2023. I decided to put them back on the floor next year under the current pricing. Instead of clearancing them this year, I decided to bring them back next year.”
Hymer said he remains optimistic.
“I am more confident that basically, we are going to have a little bit better season — better than before — but basically, I think we are going to have better and shorter wait times. I am very confident if they buy now, I would have it before the season is up.”
Rob Decker, sales manager for Outdoor Elegance Patio Design Center in La Verne, California, said that it wasn’t so much that more stock came in as it was that the stock that was there was slow in going back out.
All things considered — including the increase in inventory that now makes discounts necessary to move the stock — now is the time to buy.
“Our stock has been overflowing since the sales have slowed down,” said Decker. “We are now discounting more than we ever have just to move product. We overpurchased inventory due to manufacturers’ lead times and now that all the manufacturers are back with good lead times, we do not need to have so much inventory.”
Susan Kiley, owner of Bay Breeze Patio in Miramar Beach, Florida, said these days, she is seeing a slight slowdown in sales.
“We are seeing a leveling off, but we would normally see that at this time of the year,” said Kiley.
Kiley said that her store has historically carried a lot of inventory, which didn’t change in response to the recent challenges.
“When the world changed in ’20, we were in a great inventory position and we continued to buy more to accumulate more,” said Kiley. “We are still in a strong inventory position, but we don’t feel the need or have the space to bring in a lot of untested new stock merchandise, which means we have done very little early buy, and I am comfortable with that.”
