Don’t let COVID-19 cripple the outdoor living industry again.

Lessons learned on surviving the 2020 COVID-19 panic from an outdoor living expert.

When COVID-19 hit, no one knew what to expect. As an eternal optimist, I had a feeling things would be okay. I thought, if people must remain at home, maybe it would force them to look within. Would their homes confine them or become their sanctuary? In order to prevent a repeat in 2021. Let’s take note of what happened in 2020:

Daniel in COVID-19 regalia

Stores shut down, assembly lines faulted. I was worried that the panic would hinder the casual living industry. Our shows were postponed and then cancelled. Almost all of my clients cancelled their container orders.

But something happened. Staycations saved our industry.

At the same time, it created a frenzy. Those cancelled orders came back to haunt vendors, who couldn’t get product on the floor fast enough. After production and logistics companies came to a stand-still due to social distancing measures rebooting felt more like AOL than Google Chrome.

Unfortunately, quite a few brick and mortar stores couldn’t open until well into the season. Some were luckier than others. They were able to open earlier because they had enough outdoor space to showcase outdoor furniture while meeting capacity limits. But even still, they had trouble meeting customer demands.

Business took off because many realized that people were safest at home. When consumers looked around, they wanted more than comfort, they wanted to thrive.

Suddenly, we saw a rush. My clients who cancelled their orders were asking for immediate delivery. Merchandise ran out quick because whatever was on the shelves was purchased at once.

We all heard that toilet paper was out of stock. Well so was outdoor furniture!

As weather warmed, shading and umbrellas were especially high in demand. They were nowhere to be found. Shading was necessary in areas that were not expected— restaurants needed shading in parking lots and sidewalks. Even high end jewelry stores needed to shade their clients while they waited on line to meet social distancing capacity limits.

With everyone working on skeleton crews customer service responses were slow, orders were delayed, and logistics were a mess. COVID-19 affected our entire industry.

Overnight, lead times went from 3 weeks to 12. From online shopping websites to brick and mortar stores, no one had enough product to go around. Quick ship? HA!

So let’s take a lesson from the 2020 playbook and BE PREPARED!

If you missed anything during the 2020 staycation phenomenon, shame on you. When we see 2021 repeat this, shame on us! With companies releasing their 2021 look books and catalogues, do yourself a favor and plan your orders early.

Me? I’d start with Skyline Design, MAMAGREEN, Shademaker, and Treasure Garden to name a few! Season 2021, here we come 🎉.

If you want lifestyle & luxury, contact me.

✌️ Be well, be safe, and be happy.