Winco Blog: Industry Update: October 2021
Here is your October Industry Update from Mike Collar and Gooch Guccione.
Louisiana
The Ponchatoula warehouse is very close to being operational and will be opening soon! The best form of communication is through cell phones, as the warehouse phone system and internet are not 100%.
Industry Update
The wholesale firework industry continues to face many challenges as purchasing for the New Year’s Eve season is already in full swing. Supply chain issues, freight costs, raw materials and power outages in China are the main problems facing our industry today and making national headlines. Even outside of fireworks, consumers will most likely experience product shortages across many household goods and holiday shopping due to supply and demand, not enough warehouse workers, truck drivers and port delays.
Freight and Price Lists
We are predicting a 4 – 6% increase on the FOB. We are still negotiating and have a lot of inventory coming in and are working to allocate appropriately. The current New Year’s selling season prices will not go up, however the spring price list will be affected.
Overseas freight has gone up twice in the last couple of months.
We are hopeful that product leaving in October will be here in time for the New Year.
With all these various factors, we are evaluating how and what we purchase from our vendors, knowing that the end consumer may not be willing to purchase higher priced items. Reviewing your product line, margins and pricing strategy at the retail level will be important for a successful season for the industry.
Watch the entire update!