Some businesses are worried that due to supply chain issues, they may run out of product by the holiday season, so shoppers are getting their shopping list taken care of months ahead of time.
CBS 6 spoke to the owners Lifestyles of Saratoga and Impressions of Saratoga, two downtown businesses.
The owners tell us that the logistics of shipping items out is clogged up. So they may run low on product around the peak shopping times.
They are not worried about their sales dropping during the holiday season. This would simply be their final quarter sales coming in early. Impressions isn’t worried about losing customers in the holidays either, since people still love to shop during the holiday season. And they have some specialty items that they bring in closer to the holidays.
The sales at both businesses are up significantly from September of last year. Their numbers are even higher than some years before the pandemic.
“I do think we’re looking at some pent up demand because we have had trouble getting inventory at normal levels in early 2020 and 2021. So I am seeing people ready to shop,” says Heidi Owen West, owner of Lifestyles of Saratoga.
“Last year we had a terrible problem with delivery because all of the shipping companies were really backlogged. So I think people are worried that come November December they’re not going to get what they want,” says Marianna Barker, co-owner of impressions of Saratoga.
Sales are high enough to manage getting the same number of seasonal help as previous years. The trucking association says that shipping times likely will delay due to their own staffing shortages of delivery drivers.