Why We’re Experiencing Major Furniture Delivery Delays

If you or someone you know has ordered a piece of furniture over the past year, you may have experienced a slight delay in delivery date. If that happened to you, you were one of the lucky ones. Most people who have ordered furniture have faced massive delays. Why?

Do we really have to answer? Of course, it's because of COVID-19, but here are some specific reasons why it's so darn difficult to get furniture delivered these days.

Last summer, after filing our taxes in July of all months, we decided to order some nice furniture with our tax refund. Like everyone else, we were spending more time at home and figured we might as well make the best of it.

To make a long story short, we were unsatisfied with the quality of the piece, so we returned it for store credit. In January, we settled on replacing it with a higher-quality sectional. The store didn't have it in stock, but said that we could expect delivery sometime in February.

Valentine's Day came and went. No new couch. St. Patrick's Day came and went. We got a friendly phone call from the store apologizing for the delay, but no couch. Easter? Nothing.

Now, we're rounding home on Memorial Day weekend, and we just got a call from the store saying that it could be the end of July, but more likely mid-August before we take delivery of the new furniture. They explained that the manufacturer just couldn't get it to us before summer is nearing its end.

What is going on? Interior designer Paul Chaisson shared with Fun 107 what his manufacturer shared with him. There are three factors at play:

1. Staffing issues. Furniture makers are having trouble (just like every other company) finding people who want to work. Many of their potential employees are making more money by staying home.

2. Foam, a major material used in furniture manufacturing, is creating using oil. With oil production down, foam has become harder to come by, making it more difficult to make things like sectional couches.

3. Import Issues. With Europe and parts of Asia being shut down, it has made it even more difficult to import furniture and the materials needed to make it.

These three issues have combined to cause a perfect storm.

"Where we used to tell customers to expect deliveries in four to six weeks, our factory is now telling us to prepare our customers for a four-to-six-month wait," Chaisson said.