Christmas Brought Retail Jingle

Supply-chain issues of last year eased this shopping season

DULUTH, Minn. — Now that much of the Christmas shopping season is in the rear-view mirror, it’s a time for returns and some reflection on how the season went.

At the Fitger’s shopping complex Tuesday there was still a lot of activity.  Duluth Kitchen Company owner Alex Kulstad said it was a good Christmas year. He said a big difference that brought some peace of mind to him and customers was that there were essentially no supply-chain issues. It was much different than what happened last year.

“We were seeing one to two month lead times on different vendors. We didn’t know when they were going to come up, if they would show up,” said Kulstad.  “And now that we have an underestanding that when we order items, that they’re going to come in. And that gives us some reassurances that when we tell our customers, ‘We don’t have it right now, but we’ll get it in within the next couple weeks,’ it just gives us that peace of mind that it’ll come in and they’ll have that product soon.”

Kulstad said he has tried to buy more from local businesses, which not only eases delivery concerns, but supports the area economy. One of the really enjoyable parts of the season is when customers come in not really expecting to find what they’re looking for.

“It’s exciting. People will come in sometimes and ask about a very obscure product, expecting that we don’t have it,” Kulstad said. “And kind of the look on their face sometimes when you say, ‘Oh, yeah, it’s right over here.’ It’s just fun. They come in not expecting to find anything, and leave with baskets full of stuff they didn’t know they needed. So, it’s exciting.”

Kulstad says the rush to return is down a little bit this year. He thinks it may be due in part to people working hard at buying specific gifts for a person they know will really like it.