Simple Stories Life Documented Delayed by Labor Dispute
Simple Stories informed customers yesterday that its new Life Documented planner and scrapbook collections has been affected by a labor dispute delaying shipments at the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Seattle and Tacoma.
The collection, which was due to be received in the company's warehouse last month, is being delayed by a dispute between the ports and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. The union's contract with the ports expired in July, and in recent weeks the union's 13,000 workers at the four ports have been engaging in work slowdowns in protest of the lack of a new contract.
Because the Simple Stories Life Documented collection is part of the hot planner calendar product trend, many consumers are extra anxious to get their hands on it quickly - before the start of the new year. Simple Stories says it hopes to have the Life Documented collection in its warehouse within two weeks, and that shipping will commence shortly after their receipt of the product.
In response to rising shipping costs and concerns about logistical problems like the dock worker strike, many industry companies have been turning increasingly to onshore manufacturing instead of using China. This incident may push more companies to consider the move - Simple Stories actually produces over 50% of its product in the U.S., but despite that got burned by the logistics of this particular time sensitive line.