Slow economy keeps West Coast lockout from being holiday grinchcontinued from page 1 Michigan retailers are giving credit to the lagging economy for preventing West Coast dock labor problems from hurting their holiday seasons. They say the slow economy kept down the number of pre-Thanksgiving holiday shoppers, and by the time the numbers reached holiday levels, supply problems had been solved. “The end of November was the real start to holiday shopping for Michigan consumers this year,” said Rick Berry, owner of Michigan Toy Soldier in Royal Oak. “I get a lot of inventory from China, so, yes, I saw about a 60-day delay on some inventory,” he said. “But because of the lagging economy, there were no early holiday shoppers to turn away for lack of stock. When I started getting busy in early December, I had my Christmas shipments all set.” Fall labor problems at U.S. West Coast ports, including a 10-day shutdown, raised the possibility of serious merchandise shortages for the holiday season. Shortages were expected particularly in the toy industry, which gets most of its products from Asia and relies on suppliers to deliver on short notice. As it turned out, problems were settled and merchandise reached store shelves right before the Thanksgiving weekend. “I saw some delays with special orders,” said Corrine Curtis, owner of Cool Creations in East Lansing. “If the economy had been going at a normal clip, I may have been hurt more, but I wasn’t seeing Christmas shoppers until Thanksgiving anyway, so the lockout didn’t hurt me.” The impasse had stopped all commercial shipping at 29 ports in California, Oregon and Washington. In mid-October, the stoppage was costing the already fragile U.S. economy $2 billion a day, according to Robert Parry, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. “As retailers that rely on shipments from the West Coast we were very happy to see the union and the shipping companies settle the dispute,” said John Slagh, owner of Toy Village in Lansing. “Things ended up working out okay, but we had shipments that were over a month late. We were fine in October and early November, but any later than that and we would have been in real trouble.” Another early concern was that there would be an early holiday season best-seller like the “Tickle-Me-Elmo” and “Cabbage Patch Kid” frenzies of years past, and retailers would not have time to reorder. That “must-have” toy never surfaced, so the frenzy never came. “I guess that’s good and bad,” said Susan Wrzesinski, owner of The Toy House in Jackson. “In one respect you want there to be a hot-selling item, but if I wouldn’t have been able to get them on the shelves anyway, I guess it all comes out even. That might be the first time a slow economy sort of helped Christmas.” The Toy House has been in business for 53 years, so Wrzesinski isn’t as worried by this season’s economy as a new merchant might be. “We have seen worse times than these by far. In this business there will be thin years, but you do the best you can. Right now we are happy to have our shelves full of merchandise and our store full of customers.” |