Why Quality Furniture Takes Time

We can sense your frustration. You just found the perfect piece of furniture for your home, and you can't wait to buy it, but you've just been told that it will take at least a few months before it can be delivered.

What gives? The answer, of course, is complex and has to do with the supply chain disruptions experienced by almost every industry in the post-Covid world.

There has been an increase in demand for furniture since lockdown began, and there have been port issues, raw materials shortages, and factory closures that have contributed to the lack of furniture availability.

Learn why patience is necessary if you want the best quality furniture in your home.

With the global Covid-19 shutdown, more people spent time at home than ever before. Looking at the same rooms day after day tends to inspire a desire to change things up or to beautify your space.

This trend resulted in record-high numbers of furniture orders. The increase in demand has caused some congestion, which is reflected by the long wait times for high-quality furniture seen in many parts of the country, as everyone wants new furniture now.

Asian ports like Shanghai, Vietnam, and South Korea have been operating at far below capacity. This resulted in a massive delay in imports, which the furniture industry still hasn't quite recovered from. Furniture, furniture parts, and the materials necessary to make furniture are hardly getting to the country. When they do arrive, they often sit at overly-congested ports for weeks before even being unloaded, let alone delivered. This is part of the reason difficulty in sourcing quality furniture persists.

As far as domestic furniture production goes, the U.S. has been experiencing a foam shortage due to the deep freeze in Texas last year. For an extended period of time, the storm freeze shut down the chemical plants that produce the raw materials for foam production.

This caused a chain reaction that resulted in domestic furniture production failing to meet demand. There is a consequent shortage of furniture.

To illustrate this point, take this Power Reclining Sofa by Flexsteel Latitudes. It is a gorgeous piece of furniture, to be sure, but can you imagine how much foam it takes to fill a sofa like this? A lot of foam.

If the factories that make the foam aren't producing because the facilities that make the components for the foam are out of commission, then there is no furniture manufacturing. However, Baer's Furniture does currently have this piece in stock!

Another reason for the long wait times for furniture is that most of the factories producing furniture were or are closed for a significant amount of time. Covid-19 rocked the manufacturing world, and furniture was no exception. Prolonged factory shutdowns have made it incredibly difficult to source high-quality furniture.

For example, a piece of premium furniture such as this Tommy Bahama Home Kingstown Trafalgar Armoire requires time to source parts (another problem entirely, which we go over below) and even longer to assemble. Still, if the factories that would have produced it are no longer operational or were not functional for a significant amount of time, it causes massive delays in the delivery — but that's not the case with Baer's, as we have this piece in stock and available.

The global shortage of lumber and the parts necessary to manufacture the furniture are also causing delays. This is a worldwide supply chain shortage, and the lack of raw materials is an unprecedented part of this shortage.

Look at the length and overall size of this elegant Natuzzi Editions reclining sectional. Imagine how much lumber it takes to build a sofa like this. Now, consider that the world is experiencing a global lumber shortage and that producing furniture is just one of the many uses of raw lumber, and you can understand how the lumber shortage affects furniture availability. After all, furniture requires wood. Unfortunately, if there's no lumber, there's no furniture.

All things considered, the supply chain crisis should hopefully abate soon, and your local Baer's Furniture has plenty of in-stock models available for purchase. Come visit one of our furniture showrooms and peruse the thousands of square feet of premium furniture we offer. Let our highly-qualified staff help you find exactly what you need!