It’s a terrifying Halloween season for retailers struggling to stock their shelves in time for the holidays.
Geoff Waszek, owner of Candy’s Costume Shop in Toronto, said he was wary of placing orders in January, as is customary in the industry for Halloween, fearing another closure would cancel the festivities.
Once he started ordering, Waszek said he had to search for stock from a mosaic of suppliers struggling with supply chain problems.
US-based HalloweenCostumes.com, which ships directly to Canadian consumers, said many of the products they ordered won’t even arrive until after the holidays.
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Spokeswoman Ashley Theis said the company will only have to use late items as stock for next year.
Retailers said supply shortages made it difficult to recover from a dismal 2020, when many did not celebrate Halloween due to high COVID-19 numbers. This year, however, Waszek says she’s happy to see how excited people are to be celebrating the holiday again.
© 2021 The Canadian Press
Reference-globalnews.ca