sportstyle

54 • January/February 2022 sportstyle • sportstylemag.com CHART SOURCE: NSGA Looking ahead, Cove foresees that through Holiday 2021 there will be an "every which way you can" approach, and Q1 of 2022 will be tough. But by Q2, the supply chain crunch should start to ease up. "e next six months will be extremely challenging, but I have faith that American innovation will succeed," he comments. "Over time there will be more stability throughout the supply chain and we'll see improvement in fits and starts." Like Cove, National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) president and CEO Matt Carlson is well aware that supply chain issues are impacting the ability of retailers and team dealers to procure a wide range of products. To help improve the situation, the NSGA Management Conference & Team Dealer Summit in September helped facilitate discussions between retailers, dealers and manufac- turers, and the organization plans to host further discussions at the Conference next May in Scottsdale, AZ. Along those same lines, NSGA held its virtual "e Sporting Goods Rebound" in May, which is still available on demand at nsga.org/events/ the-sporting-goods-rebound. "NSGA has been providing as much information as possible on the situation regarding supply chain issues and product availability problems and we're regu- larly sharing updated information," says Carlson. "NSGA distributed social media messaging to the public that explained the reasoning for product delays, shortages and price increases related to supply chain problems and NSGA was one of the coa- lition co-signors of a letter to Congress expressing support for the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2021." Dealers React to the Reality On the front lines in team sports, for dealers the supply chain crisis has proven to be a huge challenge among many other COVID-inspired challenges. "I can see the container ships from my window," exclaims Aaron Karsh, director of operations for Harbor City, CA-based California Pro Sports. "It's a challenge — stuff that's never been out of stock before is now unavailable. Most of the time, customers are understanding, but their impatience is growing." To help alleviate aggravation, "We're trying to look at stock live as we're taking an order to avoid problems," says Karsh. "When meeting with coaches and athletic directors, we often have to substitute brands, items and price points." But this is impossible to do with online orders, he points out, which ends up doubling or tripling the workload for an already overtaxed staff. Regarding uniform printing and pro- duction, Karsh notes that inventory issues and product availability are pushing things back. "Do we fulfill part of an order and then do the remainder when the missing pieces come in, or do we hold the entire order until it's complete? Incomplete or late orders are now commonplace," he says. Karsh is optimistic that by Spring/ Summer 2022 the situation will begin to improve, but this ultimately depends on the workforce and manufacturers' ability to produce the needed items. "If manufacturers were unable to pro- duce or sell items from previous seasons, will they have the needed cash flow to pro- duce enough inventory going forward?" he wonders. "e ripple effect is starting to grow. I wish that our legislature and elected officials would work together to find solutions rather than squabble with each other. is affects the majority of the country." At Hoosier Sporting Goods in Columbus, IN, owner Michael Bodart reminisces about the good old days when vendors had warehouses full of product, there were no shipping delays and orders would arrive in one day. "Now we have to mix and match styles and we've pushed our turnaround time to two weeks or so," he says, pointing out that its hoodie supply won't last much past November, trophy parts are in sporadic supply and heat film for printing is hard to come by. "We can't turn orders around as fast as we want to and we've switched some of our priority to digital transfers, especially for smaller orders," he explains. When it comes to shipping costs, says Bodart, "We try to make sure we don't order from a vendor that offers free freight unless we meet the minimum freight requirements, otherwise we could end up paying for multiple shipments that originate from different warehouses." He sighs, "I just wish they'd unload the boats quicker." On the East Coast, Betsy Frey, owner of Holyoke Sporting Goods in Holyoke, MA, admits that the supply chain predicament has had a big impact on her business. "It's been terrible. We couldn't get soccer cleats, football pants or football cleats. You don't know day to day what you can get," she says. While shipping costs have gone up a little, she says the main problem is delays: "We're having a terrible time with missed shipments and there are more mistakes and mis-shipments in orders. Companies are short-handed and they're trying to get product out as quickly as they can." As a result, Frey has found that her cus- tomers are becoming used to getting what's available instead of what they really want. "We've had to be creative to get around problems," she explains. "You have to find what's in stock and if something isn't available we try to substitute items that are better to keep customers happy. It's easier to substitute a higher-quality product for what was originally ordered. "We may not make as much money on the order, but we can fill it and be done with it rather than stretching things out for two months," Frey adds. "e days of getting things overnight are gone. Once we make it through the Christmas rush, maybe things will settle down a little, perhaps by February 2022. Everyone just has to have patience." l ISSUES/SUPPLY CHAIN

• Cover