Santa's arrival may still be two months away, but Christmas seems to be on the brain of everyone coming through the door of Lake Highlands's Missfits toy shop.
"Every customer, it seems, is asking, are you going to have toys? Are you going to have plenty of things?” said co-owner Jonathan Bemis.
Though consumer concern is just setting in, Bemis said they’ve been preparing for supply shortages since June, ordering early and preparing customers to be flexible.
"Maybe just think about what your kids might like. Have them make maybe a little longer of a list this year. Don't have them look at a catalog and pick out exactly what they want. Maybe have them pick categories instead of exactly this toy,” said Bemis.
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When it comes to online shopping, Adobe Analytics estimates people are more than twice as likely to find an item out of stock as they were in 2020, a problem expected to extend to the holiday table.
"It means everybody needs to order now,” said La Cave co-owner Rhonda Chandler.
From her Design District wine shop, Chandler is already urging customers to get their holiday champagne orders in.
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Come December, she said they may not find what they’re looking for.
"Currently we're being told by most of our suppliers that there are bottle shortages and label shortages so the wine can't even make it into the bottle to get shipped,” said Chandler.
That’s before they make it to congested ports.
Like Bemis, Chandler said customers shouldn’t panic that products will completely disappear from shelves.
In addition to shopping earlier, consumers are urged to ship earlier as the U.S. Postal Service announced a change in service that will slow the mail heading into the holiday season.
