Supply chain problems affect McLean

FALLING SHORT ON GOODS

Supply chain delays lead to empty shelves and slow shipping

MELISSA ALLEGRETTI REPORTER

The exchange of gifts on winter holidays is a cherished tradition that will be dramatically altered this season as a result of shipping and production delays. Businesses will have difficulty providing consumers with the same number of products as previous years.

At the start of the pandemic, businesses cut production in response to a plummet in consumer demand. Months later, demand spiked but businesses are struggling to bring back workers to increase production. Experts observed that there is no single reason for the current delays.

“If you ask retail merchants, they’ll say it’s truckers or ports, and if you ask truckers, they’ll say it’s infrastructure,” marketing teacher Christopher Phillips said. “Before the pandemic, there was already a problem with backup and distribution, and then you added the pandemic into it and made it a thousand times worse.”

Students and staff alike have observed the negative impacts of the pandemic on businesses and product availability and expect to have to alter their holiday shopping.

“I had some difficulty doing online shopping [because] the prices of groceries, clothes [and other things have] gone up and we might encounter this problem later on,” sophomore Sophia Belair-Bogdanova said.

The shortage affects the market as a whole, not just holiday gift items. The supply of most manufactured goods, from technology to clothing items, is insufficient for the market demand. In addition to impacting holiday gift shopping, the product delays have affected the McLean High School staff’s ability to acquire school materials.

“Many of [our books] have been delayed [due to] supplies and shipment,” head librarian Joan McCarthy said. “By [midAugust], we should have gotten at least some of our June order, and we [did not start] getting those until October.”

Meanwhile, classrooms have been struck by a shortage of copy paper.

“We are using paper at a higher rate than we are getting in paper,” Principal Ellen Reilly said in an email to the staff on Nov. 30. “Fairly soon, we are likely to run out of paper. There are schools around the county who have been without paper for three weeks. Please be cognizant of your paper use and use only what is needed.”

Delivery companies have developed new methods of transporting goods to help compensate for shortages in labor and materials.

“Many of the transportation companies will limit how many goods they’re going to pick up and deliver for the customers,” supply chain management professional Irvin Varkonyi said. “What the companies are trying to do is that instead of promising something they can’t deliver, they’re trying to reduce how much they’ll commit to, and almost all [customers] will have a much happier outcome.”

Businesses have encouraged consumers to purchase holiday gifts well in advance. Many popular gifts, like the PlayStation 5, will be stocked inconsistently, whether consumers look online or in stores.

“The holidays are when [people] make or break their business,” Phillips said, “so if we don’t fix this problem or [alleviate] the pressure, there’s going to be a serious problem.”

BEFORE THE PANDEMIC, THERE WAS ALREADY A PROBLEM WITH BACKUP AND DISTRIBUTION, AND THEN YOU ADDED THE PANDEMIC INTO IT AND MADE IT A THOUSAND TIMES WORSE.”

- CHRISTOPHER PHILLIPS MARKETING TEACHER

Shelf shortages — Empty shelves are a common sight everywhere, including grocery stores like McLean’s Safeway. Agricultural shipment complications and worker shortages have affected the production of staple foods. toy Trouble — Child’s Play, a toy store in McLean, is experiencing product shortages. The toy market is one of the most lucrative during the holiday season but retailers aren’t able to meet demand.