Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
Nothing is more frustrating that deciding you want to purchase a high ticket item after much consideration and then having to wait....and wait...and wait Some items take a year from time of order to complete, if you tweak up a piece to custom-size it for example, it can double the production time from 6 months to 12 months. Don't do customs lightly or on a whim, because they will take longer. We just got shipping notice today on a H&M Custom Milan Sectional that was ordered on Dec 14, 2021 and it will be here next week....that's 12 months due to a width lengthening on one segment of that sectional
As things in many industries improve on time after Covid, there are still supply chain shortages and a lack of workers. One of the things we here at The Keeping Room are looking at is high-quality suppliers who can deliver quicker while maintaining good price points. While not dropping any suppliers, we will de-emphasize those that can't improve on build times. 10 months or even longer out is really trying patience for most people and for us, too.
Our initial Whitmore-Sherrill was placed on Sept 23rd and will finish up and be here the week of Dec 19th, that's three months....that's very much acceptable. Can they maintain that build pace with their all-new state-of-the-art facility? We will see, but we are off to a good start, I think. Pricing is decent, and I like the build quality. But before I bang that drum too loudly, I want to see what the first order looks like and feels like. It has to pass my "tests" before I get behind the product whole heartedly and that requires a careful look-over of the initial order for workmanship, materials, packing, comfort, pitch angles and the like. I know my customers rely on me to evaluate a product line with an honest assessment as I have been doing for the past 36 years.
Our Floor Model H&M Ricki Sofa is leaving this Saturday for a new home. The Ricki is a top seller, and I know it will be at least summer 2023 before a replacement gets here - most likely June if we order one in Juno Soft Blue, which seems to be really popular. It's difficult to plan that far out on inventory. It makes us either over-crowded or not-enough floor models, its hard to maintain a steady level.
I am not sure build times are going to improve in 2023, but at least we have (so far) seen the pause in price increases which plagued us for the past year. Sales are continuing to come in, and there is a lot of immediate product available in warehouses on imported pieces - they are caught up. But much of that is made in China or Vietnam, and many our our customers want domestic product.
Duane Collie
Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.