Local companies warn of shipping, merchandise issues as we near the holiday season
By Sarah Hurwitz
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BEAVERTON, Oregon (KPTV) — It’s October, but should you already be thinking about holiday gifts?
In a global shipping crisis, local companies say they’re facing inventory shortages and shipping issues.
“Normally I have about 95% of my holiday merchandise by now and normally that is shipped by August,” A Flair for Gifts & Home Owner, Michelle Bottaro said. “We are still receiving boxes every day and it’s just trickling in very slow. I’ve had to cancel a lot of things because it’s just not going to be here in time.”
Bottaro says it’s been a challenge through the global shipping crisis and she’s had to get creative in how she searches for and buys merchandise.
“Instead of focusing so much on holiday decor focusing more on things that can be giftables so and with that I’ve gotten very creative looking at really small companies that might have one or two items I can work with and maybe I order ten small little orders instead of two really big orders,” Bottaro said.
Bottaro says there’s some companies she couldn’t get merchandise from at all and that couldn’t even provide a ship date.
Her best advice is to shop early.
“Last week I had a customer come in three times and she got almost her whole Christmas list done,” Bottaro said.
What about sending those gifts?
Lake Oswego PostalAnnex Owner Mike Hoffner says with certain countries he’s just telling customers not to ship there as packages are extremely backlogged and he says there are issues with regulations.
“Shipping to the EU, to Australia, to New Zealand, a lot of complications and getting them international’s taking a week or two extra weeks to get there,” Hoffner said. “We just are warning customers ship at your own peril because we’re not offering refunds because it’s just a complete nightmare.”
Hoffner says if you’re shipping within the United States he’s not as concerned, but he says give yourself a few extra days for your package to get to its location on time.
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