Catholic gift, book stores caught in supply chain woes

Canada’s Catholic gift stores are not immune to the problems that have turned into a global supply chain crisis.

Just as goods are getting harder and harder to find on many store shelves and retailers are warning customers to get their Christmas shopping done early, Catholic shops are running into the same supply problems.

While the length of time it takes to get items has greatly increased, so have prices. Shipping and overall price of products has in some cases almost doubled.

Daniel Uy at St. Andrew’s Book, Gift & Church Supply  in Burnaby said not only are items delayed, but the cost of bringing them in has risen.

“It has affected us both on the turnaround time when we receive items and the cost of bringing in the products. All our suppliers have increased pricing by varying degrees; some suppliers’ costs went up by 50 per cent.” 

Holy Family Catholic Gift and Book Store in Langley reports similar problems maintaining its stock. “Usually, I get about 95 per cent of my order right away; the other five per cent trickles in,” said owner Andreas Pfenniger. “Now I get about 30 to 35 per cent of my order pretty quick … the rest takes awhile.”

Holy Family employee Richard Gumpal offered an example. “Our St. Joseph items are incredibly hard to get right now,” he said, shaking his head. The store placed its order with the supplier in China in the spring. “We got a couple things, but the rest of the order is coming in later in November and early January. It’s a little inconvenient since this is the Year of St Joseph.”

Both stores noted the situation is somewhat better when it comes to local suppliers. “Local and overseas suppliers have increased prices, but locals are still a little cheaper,” said Uly. “Overseas suppliers are starting to add container or transportation surcharges based on the cost of the order.”

In Stoney Creek, Ont., Bobbi Blais, owner and president of Blais Church & Religious Supplies, was just finalizing shipments for the 2022 Living with Christ Sunday Missal.

“Oh my gosh. The missals are usually ready the first or second weekend of October, and we are literally just getting our missals now,” said Blais. “And of course, with the transition into Advent, everyone has to have their missals. The reason that was delayed, (our suppliers) told us was because of a paper shortage.

Blais said satisfying retail demand is a more difficult proposition these days.

“We’re finding it hard to supply things that were always available to us. Things like statues, rosaries – really any gift ideas. We’re ordering, and expecting product to come in, but are finding there is going to be a one-month or two-month delay. For some items, we are actually waiting 16 months at this point.”

Candles are proving particularly cumbersome. Blais said glass candle containers made in China have doubled in price over the past couple years.

Transporting containers from ports in Vancouver to Ontario is also a headache.

Leigh Gorman, owner of Catholic Gifts Canada in Dundalk, Ont., is having a tough time supplying Nativity sets, Advent wreaths, and candle holders.

“My suppliers in the U.S. are telling me that it is costing more for them to purchase products and materials,” said Gorman.

Container ships that dock in the U.S. are contending with major delays at ports like the Los Angeles, Long Beach, New York, and New Jersey.

An increasing collective reliance on internet shopping as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic is cited by experts as a primary driver of these bottlenecks. Labour shortages throughout North America is another.

Blais expects that Christmas in 2021 will be unavoidably different.

“We’ve tried to explain already to customers that the items are not coming in on time. I think people just have to understand that they may not have it for Christmas. What we recommend they do is make a little card stating that a gift is on its way to you. That’s about all we can do at this point,” said Blais.

The long-time business owner guesses the backlog could persist for “at least another six to eight months.” She is keeping apprised of the headlines coming out of China, a country in the throes of an energy crisis where power curtailment measures have been introduced.

“Because of the energy crisis they are facing, there is a shortage of workers there,” said Blais. There are also reports of a shortage of containers in China. “There is such an influx of orders coming through, from Canada and the U.S. … that they just can’t get everything in the containers to be shipped in time.”

The Catholic Register with B.C. Catholic files.