Current Production Times on Hancock & Moore

With the Summer Sale in full swing now and now that we are coming into high season for new upholstery, build times have increased a bit at Hancock & Moore to an average of 6 to 8 weeks (up from 4 to 6 weeks). Also, in case you missed it in a older thread virtually every tannery in the world shuts down for 2 to 3 weeks in August for annual cleaning. That means a hiccup in the supply pipeline will be happening in the upcoming few weeks and leather inventories will see higher than normal out-of-stocks. That will resolve in late October or so, however. Finally, a reminder that if you factor in build and ship times together, orders placed now will likely deliver in October / Early November. If you would like your new pieces in the home for Thanksgiving, try to order in the next week or two so as not to get pinched on time frames. Just an FYI.

If H&M buys leather for stock, which you have confirmed many times that they do, why would they not buy additional inventory to cover the annual tannery shutdowns and predictable hiccups in the supply pipeline? Sounds like leather inventory management to minimum levels is more important to H&M than keeping order lead times as short as possible.

I was told once they carry an average of $ 3.5 million in leather inventory (loose hides). They're not a huge company so that's probably as much as they want to inventory, dollar-wise. It's the same reason I have about (50) frames of H&M on my floor instead of (500), which is what customers would like me to have. Lots of cash to build stock and space needed for all of it. That's my guess.