Furniture stores receiving a lot of customers since lock down was lifted; causing some concerns

MARLTON, New Jersey (WPVI) -- Joe Lehman from Kroungold's Furniture in Marlton, New Jersey says in the good old days, before COVID-19, a customer would enter the store, order furniture, and then the store would deliver the furniture within a few weeks.

Now Lehman said, "You constantly have to be on the phone trying to work through the manufacturer. When can you get this done? When can you get that done? And can you move me ahead of that? And it's just very challenging."

Lehman says it's all the result of a perfect storm that developed courtesy of the coronavirus.

Over the past several weeks, the demand for furniture has increased as more and more people adapt their dwelling spaces to accommodate working and studying from home for the long-haul.

All as the furniture supply-chain has been disrupted by the pandemic.

That goes double if the components for your furniture come from China with whom American trade has slowed dramatically.

And the problem only gets worse the further your business is from major urban centers.

Miguel DelRio, owner of JMI Furniture out in Reading, Pennsylvania says once the lock-down was lifted, customers cleaned-out his inventory.

The problem is that while the stream of customers has not slowed down, the arrival of new furniture has come to a grinding halt.

"Everybody's going crazy buying furniture, everywhere," said DelRio. "So, the big corporations that sell them to us are no longer having them because the shipments are taking over, like, taking longer to come in on containers."

Lehman says this is a problem that is not going away any time soon.

Simply put, he says it's a case of adapt or die. "It is stressful, but you know it's also challenging. And I like a challenge," said DelRio.

The stores that are receiving new inventory are asking their customers for patience.

What would normally be delivered in 4 to 6 weeks could now take 12 to 14 weeks, maybe more.