The global supply chain is like a domino track. If one is knocked down, the others will be dumped all over the world. Currently, the collapse of dominoes has led to price increases, supply shortages and shipping backlogs in major ports from China to Europe and North America.

We have discussed these supply chain issues in detail, but until recently, they mainly affected the promotion of hard goods. Apparel supply chains tend to have more national diversification, which protects them from some of the problems faced by hard goods mainly manufactured in China.

This is no longer the case.

Custom clothing stores are increasingly reporting that it is difficult to purchase T-shirts and other wearable devices, and smaller stores are particularly vulnerable to sourcing issues. This includes issues with delayed shipments and ensuring blank space.

For example, Shawn Ritchie, owner of Ritchie's Sporting Goods in Tallmadge, Ohio, told Akron Beacon Journal that he has personally experienced ordering issues from well-known clothing suppliers such as Gildan, JerZees, Adidas, SanMar, and Nike.

Jonathan Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation, told Akron Beacon magazine: “We see that no matter how big or small companies, there are problems that are difficult to bring products to the market.” It started in overseas factories, which are clearly affected by COVID and have encountered problems in re-staffing to meet the consumer demand we have seen."

In the United States, where the number of citizens vaccinated is relatively high, retail shopping has flourished, creating demand for clothing before the pandemic. However, the problem is that the global shipping industry is not yet in a "post-pandemic state."

"We call it a shipping crisis," Nate Herman, senior vice president of policy for the American Apparel and Footwear Association, told Beacon Magazine. "That transportation crisis has the potential to leave store shelves empty, which is particularly worrying for our industry as we are close to returning to school and entering the holiday season."

The order delivered by the clothing store far exceeded the date of the initial offer, just like Rich's order for a jersey for the local softball team, which was delivered in time before the team's last game of the season. For large orders, he said the product "will be shipped out in four to five weeks" rather than all at once.

Other decorators, such as Cleveland Apparel, which works with apparel suppliers in California, must use innovative solutions to deliver products to customers in a timely manner.

Mike Kubinski, the owner of the Cleveland Apparel Company, told the Cleveland website: "We now have to print our best-selling one in a different color, because we won't get fuchsia until July."

Some clothing stores are turning to multiple suppliers to piece together complete orders from multiple sources. But this piecemeal approach brings its own challenges. Pass the beacon log:

For example, the T-shirts for the Summit County Fair are from Akron Shirt Factory in Norton, but there have been some obstacles in the implementation of these plans this year. Kathy Scheetz, the owner of Akron Shirt Factory, ordered this year's maroon shirt from JerZee, but could not find any 2XL shirts. She planned to buy that size again as soon as it became available, but this never happened.

Result: The people who bought 2XL shirts from this year's Summit County Fair will be different from the audience of other fairs who bought T-shirts.

Mike Cannon, the owner of Cleveland Printwear, told Cleveland.com that his company purchased 350 orders from three different suppliers in seven different warehouses in the United States.

Cannon said: "The absolute quantity and the immediacy of the quantity we need now cannot keep up with the supply." "It's really strenuous here. Obviously, people don't want to hear this. The sales part is very tricky, and then we are really worried. Our employees are overworked."

For business owners, this is an extremely difficult situation. Demand appeared for the first time in more than a year, but now the supply side is insufficient.

Transportation experts speculate that these problems will not disappear anytime soon, and it may not be until 2022. Until then, if it appears as expected, clothing sellers will need to plan accordingly. This may mean working with different or new suppliers, covering their bases with multiple supplier partners, and being realistic and honest with customers about how long the order actually takes.

Brendan Menapace is a senior digital editor at Promo Marketing. Although writing and editing stories is natural for him, writing his own biography is not.