Phillip Howard pointed toward a stack of black ski pants piled atop a counter in his winter sports shop as evidence of the hurdles small business owners still face as the pandemic drags on.
The pants were supposed to arrive by August at Troy's Ski Lubbock shop in west Texas - well before his five-month hot season of selling that kicks off in October. Instead, they came from China the first week of January, delayed by supply-chain failures. "Late-arriving product really kills us," Howard said this week, noting that several other items had also arrived late, missing his pre-holiday sales season. "I have been in this business for almost 20 years, and I've never encountered anything like this."
As the pandemic enters its third year, many small businesses across the United States are besieged on three fronts: deepening supply chain issues; periodic staffing shortages; and fewer customers showing up in some areas, fearing the Omicron spike in Covid-19 cases. This week the Federal Reserve released its latest collection of anecdotes about the state of the economy from businesses, labor groups and others nationwide, showing that the fast-spreading Omicron variant was exacerbating difficulties, especially for hiring and inflation.
US retail sales fell 1.9% in December amid the shortage of goods and surging infections, the Commerce Department said on Friday.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 17, 2022.
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