BATON ROUGE – Shelves are stocked at Victoria Toy Station but that could change in the coming weeks.
“Restocks are non-existent, so, you know, I tell my customers every time, ‘If you see it, buy it,’ because it won’t be here tomorrow,” said toy store owner Katie Shoriak. .
Santa may have a bit of a problem delivering toys this year and it’s all because of the growing supply chain problem.
“We were aware of that and we took it big,” Shoriak said. “We order different companies to try to counter this.”
Katie says she ordered much earlier than usual to keep her shelves stocked this year, but the old adage, “Go, go, go!” could be a reality.
“I’ve run out of some stuff and actually reordered last night,” Shoriak said. “I called my rep first thing in the morning and she was like, ‘I can’t guarantee it.’ This year, I’ve been really buying a lot and buying big items early, and I actually have a storage unit next door that we keep stock in.”
Shipping is one of the biggest issues the store faces.
“We buy a lot of doll furniture and the company called me about a month ago and said, ‘Your shipment that was 150 is now 300. Do you still want the order?'” Shoriak said. “And I’m like, ‘Yes! I need this!'”
The best advice these days is to get your list to Santa as soon as possible.
“Buy early, buy now, and don’t wait,” Shoriak said. “If you see it, buy it. I’ll always have stuff and my store will never be empty.”
Victoria Toy Station doesn’t expect supply issues to improve anytime soon, so they’re already placing orders for Easter.