This Holiday Season May Look A Little Different - Get Ready!

📸 cred - one of our awesome customers: @domesticdomestic

Our hearts go out to every small business owner and retailer this holiday season. 

No really. 

As if Covid wasn’t / isn’t enough... 

Pile that on with all. the. other. things. 

Here are a few just from our experience:

• It’s probably no surprise, but there’s a massive shortage of workers.

• The cost of raw materials has significantly increased e.g., aluminum has increased 50%+ since January.

• In January of this year it would have cost approx. $4,500 to bring a 40’ shipping container to the US from China. In July, that price doubled. And now, it’s $25,000+ PER CONTAINER. Just for shipping. And what used to take 6-8 weeks on the water is now getting stuck at the port for an undetermined amount of time.

• It’s super difficult to find people to transport product domestically who are willing and/or able to truck goods from one location (e.g. a port, warehouse) to another. 

• Shoppers are buying early because they’re hearing (and seeing) that stock will be sold out if they wait until closer to the holidays. 

• Customer loyalty is effectively going out the window. If the brand they prefer doesn’t have what they want, it will be much easier this year to shift and get something else from someone else.

If you’re a Black Friday shopper in brick and mortar stores, our guess is that it could get a lil ugly. Be careful out there!

Here’s what we’re doing to provide everyone with a Wanderr who wants one or who wants to gift one this holiday season...

• All our Wanderrs now are Assembled in the US and, as of Jan. 2022, all our Wanderrs will be Made in USA. 

• We have inventory stored up in our fulfillment centers ready to be shipped. 

• We have a rockstar team in place ready to take care of our customers. 

• Stace, as our Head of Manufacturing and New Product Development, is working closely with our incredible manufacturer in Pennsylvania to keep costs as low as possible. 

As a heads up, we'll likely increase our Wanderr MSRP after the holidays (so if you’re wanting one, get it now!).

Will the holiday season be perfect for us? Absolutely not. But we’ll do our very best to get a Wanderr to everyone who wants one!

And, please, be kind to those in small businesses or retail. 

Now, more than ever - buy local!!  Your community needs your support.

I’m afraid there are going to be a lot of stressed out, overworked people this holiday season. 

Maybe it’s a good time to get more creative in our gift giving - time, love, words, acts of service...or a Wanderr by OME Gear...Outdoors Made Easy!! 

What are you plans for holiday gift giving? Would love to hear in the comments below. This platform doesn't allow us to respond to comments on here, but we read every one!  

Until next week, friends.

Jules + Stace 💚