Supply Update – Out-Of-Stock Edition
Well, I always wanted to be a place folks could rely on to get their food storage stuff. However, you may have noticed last month I ran out of 2000cc Oxygen Absorbers. The day the shipment was to arrive in our warehouse I called my main supplier to ask why it didn’t arrive. Only then did they tell me the order hadn’t even shipped. Worse, they said they were out of stock, and no one knew for how long (Yet they cashed my check while I’m still stuck waiting, more than a month later). I started subbing larger quantities of 300cc absorbers for the 2000’s, and while not optimal, that was working ok. However, I went to place my order on Friday of last week for 300cc absorbers with my 2nd supplier, and they let me know they were out of stock as well and a new shipment wouldn’t arrive until the 2nd week of April. UGG!
Exacerbating the whole supply issue is the Tsunami in Japan which occurred on Friday…I am lucky I was off from my day job, as we did triple our average volume of sales as people started to stock up in the wake of the disaster. However, it nearly wiped out my stocks of larger absorbers (we still have 100cc absorbers remaining), and I will have used up the remainder by tomorrow.
In any case, I am here to let you know we are essentially out of stock of both 2000cc and 300cc absorbers for the near future. I am trying to place a 300cc order with another supplier right now, but they can’t yet give me any indication whether they are in stock or if it will occur. I called some other suppliers as well, but they wanted so much that I would have to raise my prices more than I am willing to.
You all have my deepest apologies.
If there is any silver lining to this situation, it is that while I am out of stock on these items and not shipping many orders, I am going to work on the new e-commerce ordering system, listing some items I haven’t gotten to (buckets, Gamma Seal Lids and some Rothco stuff), and otherwise improving the back end of the business which has been left wanting as our order volumes increased dramatically.
Oh, and I am still fully stocked on Mylar bags (we actually got a new shipment of bags in this week, and they are beautiful; I am ultra happy with a new supplier), including the large 5-gallon Zip Seal bags.
