(WXYZ) — There's another shortage caused by the pandemic: furniture foam and particleboard.
Experts say furniture sales have increased by more than 50 percent. The supply chain isn’t keeping up, but one local company is thinking outside the box to serve customers.
“People are home a lot more and thinking about their furnishings and, frankly, just need a lot more utility out of what they have because they use it for like 12 different purposes. So in terms of demand, it’s been really strong,” says Rachel Stewart, President of Gardner White.
While Michigan has seen other furniture stores like Art Vango out of business, 4th generation owned Gardner White is still going strong. They’ve been in Metro Detroit for over 100 years and built strong relationships with manufacturers, which Stewart says makes a big difference in securing the thousands of items they have in stock.
While some items on the sales floor have a delay, items with significant delays are being moved off the floor and replaced with new items the company has aggressively worked to procure.
Gardner White recently purchased new furniture inventory from a liquidation sale so customers may see familiar brands they haven’t seen in the past at Gardner White.
“You'll see a lot of change and a lot of new products coming to Gardner White stores. All day, every day, these days, because we are focusing on everything in stock so our customers can get it,” says Stewart.
Many retail experts report overall price increases in the furniture industry due to supply chain issues.
This Thursday and Friday Gardner White is holding a blood drive and giving customers who donate blood, a 50 dollar coupon towards a purchase.
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