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Our COVID-19 Response


Due to the Covid-19 pandemic some of our suppliers and logistics companies are experiencing delays. We are doing our best to update our website as delays are reported to us however with things evolving daily we apologize in advance if our delivery estimates are not completely up to date. If you have a tight deadline or would like to confirm delivery estimates prior to placing your order please contact us at 1-888-947-4449. Customers who order directly through the websites will be alerted if we foresee additional delays beyond what is posted on the website. We thank you for your patience and understanding at this time.

Please read on for a message from our Founder, as well as details on how the Pandemic may affect you and your purchases at Patio Productions.


A Message During the Pandemic

Dear Patio Productions Customers,

I cannot believe that it has been over a year since the Covid 19 pandemic began. Who would have thought a year later I would be updating our pandemic statement! I for one am eagerly awaiting the day that life gets back to normal, and I know that you are too.

Speaking of normal… nothing has been normal over the past year and things are going to be rocky for the foreseeable future in the outdoor furniture industry. The pandemic has uprooted supply chains as well as dramatically changed buying behavior, causing stock outages on all sides of our business. Products we once relied on to ship out in days, we now hope can ship out within a few months. Oh, and prices! They keep going up :(

While we are doing our best to update the lead times and prices on our website daily as new information comes in, the truth is that what is accurate today may not be accurate tomorrow.

So in light of all this, I thought I would share some of the challenges the outdoor furniture (and many other) industries face.

Here are 6 big ones just to name a few…

  1. Demand. Customer demand has risen by 150% over the past year in the outdoor furniture industry as families upgrade their quarantine spaces. In any year, that is going to cause hold ups. Combine this increase in demand with pandemic supply chain problems, and you have a recipe for long delays.
  2. Sunbrella Fabric Outages. Sunbrella fabric is used on just about every product we sell and they have struggled to keep up with demand. Much of the furniture we sell is prepared to ship out in stock frames quickly, but Sunbrella cannot make the cushions that go with the frames due to a lack of fabric. Not only is Sunbrella months behind, but they have not been able to reliably quote when the fabrics will be available. This has caused some of our customers' orders to be delayed 2 and even 3 times over as Sunbrella pushed back delivery dates.
  3. Foam Chemicals. There are a handful of petroleum-based chemicals used in the outdoor furniture industry to make foam for cushions. These chemicals have been in short supply over the past few years, however the problem was aggravated when Texas (a major supplier of these petroleum-based chemicals) underwent a deep freeze in February of 2021. This caused further shortages of the chemicals and subsequently the foam we need to deliver our cushions. [UPDATE while not back to normal - I am happy to report that this issue is getting better :) ]
  4. Port Delays. Tired of hearing about the ports? We are too! But the truth is many of our orders have been pushed back 2-4 weeks while container ships sit off the coast of popular US ports. Port delays of a week or less were previously not uncommon, but port delays of 2 weeks or more are historically rare and have caught the entire industry off guard.
  5. Container and Cargo Space Shortages. In regular times, containers are available, and orders can be picked up from factories and then placed on cargo ships in a few days' time. Currently, due to a variety of reasons, there is a shortage of containers and space on cargo ships so it may take 3-4 weeks for a factory to secure a container to even begin to ship orders.
  6. Price Increases. Foam pricing has increased almost 100% in the past 2 years, container pricing by 400% in the past year, aluminum prices are up 50% in the past year, and Tariffs are still in play just to name a few of the cost increases we are seeing. These factors and more have caused our suppliers to change prices on us more than 3 times in 2021 so far, as of June! For many of our products we have thus far absorbed the price hikes, but where we cannot we have been busy updating our website to reflect new pricing.

Ok, enough doom and gloom! We hope you are making the most of these topsy turvy times and have found silver linings wherever they are to be found. We thank you for supporting small business and for your understanding as we overcome the ongoing challenges we face. Stay safe, hug your loved ones, and have some fun this summer! We all deserve it.

- Ben


How we are Responding to Healthy and Safety Concerns

  • We are now utilizing regular deep cleanings of surfaces, equipment, and products, in addition to our typical cleaning efforts, at our warehouse and showroom facilities. We have expanded our general cleaning and sanitizing procedures across the board. Our employees also practice more frequent hand-washing and sanitization.
  • Showroom and warehouse employees practice and maintain proper social distancing at all times per our new guidelines. We stagger shifts, place limits on the number of people allowed in common spaces (including break rooms), and allow flexible scheduling so many of our employees can safely work from home when able.
  • We strictly enforce a “no mask, no service” policy for customers wishing to visit our physical showroom. All of our in-person employees wear masks at all times.
  • We offer a safe, socially-distant Local Delivery experience for southern California shipments. National deliveries handled through our standard third-party freight carriers are subject to the respective policies of the carriers themselves.

A Note About Order Lead Times

Last season (2020), we experienced quite a few disruptions in our supply chain, due to higher demand for patio furniture, and a decrease in production due to Covid restrictions, our standard lead times were continuously pushed out . This season is shaping up to be very similar.

What impacts a supplier's lead time?

  • Decreased production labor due to Covid closures and the need to space out workers
  • Material shortages which are caused by delays in transportation and production
  • Increased demand for online goods has impacted the freight industry and they are not able to keep up, which slows down delivery time

As you can see, we are facing challenges at every level!

What can you do to avoid delays?

  • Order early! You can expect lead times ranging from 8 - 12 weeks for custom orders, and we expect them to increase as peak patio season approaches.
  • Buy something we currently have in stock
  • Be patient and understanding. The lead time we quote at the time of purchase could change and those delays are out of our control. We will do the best we can to honor the lead time we quoted.

Our team is very passionate about providing authentic information and customer service, so you can make the best decision for your patio space and desired timeline. We are doing all we can to meet your needs, but many factors are out of our control. Thank you for your understanding and for supporting a local, family-owned business!

 
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