Starting holiday shopping already? NC retailers explain why that’s a smart move

The Christmas shopping season, and concerns over supply chain delays, is already front of mind for many Charlotte retailers even though Halloween has yet to arrive.

That’s why on Thursday morning, Blackhawk Hardware co-owner Andy Wilkerson rented two box trucks and headed down to the docks of Savannah, Ga., nearly four hours away from his Charlotte store.

He made the trek to pick up Christmas merchandise like ornaments and artificial trees, which had been sitting in customs for three weeks, straight from the port. The shipment usually arrives by mid-August.

“Unfortunately, (Danish shipping company Maersk) had no idea when they could actually deliver it to us,” Wilkerson said.

Retailers are concerned about getting orders filled with enough holiday items, such as Christmas trees, to last through the season. They say customers should shop for holiday decorations and gifts earlier than ever this year.

The Port of Savannah is the third-busiest container gateway in the U.S., according to the Georgia Ports Authority. The backlog of nearly 80,000 shipping containers piling up at the port because of the global supply chain crisis is unrelenting, The New York Times reported this month.

Wilkerson said his Park Road store is fully stocked with decor and toys, but keeping shelves full throughout the season will be a challenge. The nationwide labor shortage of truck drivers and dock workers is further exacerbating the supply chain issues as online shopping reaches unprecedented levels.

“These are things I’d normally have... in August,” Wilkerson said of the latest shipment pickup.

’No hidden stashes’

Wilkerson has some simple advice for holiday shoppers: Shop early.

“We’re fully stocked. But I’m telling people to come get your Christmas decor early this year,” Wilkerson said. “We have no hidden stashes anywhere. What you see on store shelves is what they have.”

Blackhawk Hardware sells everything in its Christmas area from decorations and grills to personalized gifts and ornaments. This year’s biggest product shortage is holiday lights, Wilkerson said.

“We’re getting 50% of what we order,” he said. “We’re usually the last place in town where you can get lights, and I bet you by mid-November, we’ll be sold out.”

Wilkerson will continue to try to restock but said, “I’m not holding my breath.”

Lower inventories, higher prices

Mark Vitner, a Charlotte-based senior economist with Wells Fargo Securities, said he doesn’t expect widespread supply chain snafus to resolve themselves anytime soon.

“Supply chain issues are definitely going to continue, probably through at least the middle of next year,” he said. “I wouldn’t expect the situation to get a whole lot better, so it will be really wise to get out (and shop) early.”

Shortages and delays won’t be the only economic trends putting a damper on the holiday spirit: rising inflation means shoppers will likely notice higher prices on a number of items, Vitner said. Food and energy prices have shot up the most, so there’s a good chance you’ll be shelling out more cash for Christmas dinner.

Still, Vitner said he’s expecting some “fairly spectacular” gains in holiday sales this season.

He pointed out that this time last year, the U.S. was in the middle of a COVID case surge, when hospitalizations soared and most Americans were still unvaccinated.

This year, it’s likely that more people will be out and about during the holidays, spending more on travel, dining and entertainment.

But with lower inventories and higher prices for a variety of goods, Vitner reiterated that it would be wise to plan ahead, shop early and have a couple of different ideas when it comes to gift-giving this season.

“It’ll be good to have some backup ideas,” he said.

Seasonal product shortages

Other Charlotte stores are also experiencing delayed shipments.

Fewer live and artificial Christmas trees are expected to be available this year, and they will be more expensive, because of economic instability from the pandemic and extreme weather affecting global and U.S. supply chains, according to the American Christmas Tree Association.

The “all things Christmas” retail store Peppermint Forest Christmas Shop in Pineville opened for its 42nd season last weekend, saying it has thousands of Christmas decorations in stock despite supply chain issues. However, “Christmas trees have been slower to arrive than usual, but we are receiving orders weekly,” the store says on its website.

Company officials had not responded to a request for comment by Thursday.

Starting the holidays early

Like Blackhawk Hardware, other retailers don’t expect holiday supplies to last long.

On Wednesday, Mooresville-based Lowe’s launched its “Make More” holiday season campaign. The company expects shoppers to deck the halls earlier than ever, both inside and outside their homes.

Lowe’s set up its stores nationwide with Christmas holiday decorations after Labor Day, said Bill Boltz, the company’s executive vice president of merchandising.

“We’re encouraging shoppers to shop early,” Boltz said. And online shoppers to “ship early.”

Artificial trees started arriving earlier than anticipated in late summer, Boltz said. Fresh-cut trees will be available by the end of October or early November, with free shipping on purchases over $45 beginning Oct. 30, he said.

Lowe’s is also expanding its holiday selections beyond Christmas, with more Hanukkah and Kwanzaa decorations, Boltz said.

In the second year of the pandemic, Lowe’s will roll out sales ahead of Black Friday to limit congestion in stores. Expect to see sales starting Oct. 28, with deals every week through December that include online-only deals.

The home improvement chain also has doubled the number of gift items and added wine chillers, neck massagers and mini-bikes.

‘Getting what we can’

Blackhawk Hardware’s Wilkerson said he arrived back in Charlotte around 9 p.m. Thursday, after a 13-hour day of driving and loading up stacks of holiday merchandise in Georgia.

“We didn’t know what we were walking into, and it was very labor intensive,” he said of loading pallets of ornaments and Christmas products into the rented trucks.

Early Friday morning, it took another two hours for Wilkerson and store staff to offload it all. And Wilkerson said he’s still not fully stocked for the season because only half of the orders are being produced and shipped.

“We’re getting what we can,” he said. “I would do it again if I had to, but only if I had to.”

This story was originally published October 22, 2021 at 12:38 PM.