In exactly 68 days, Christmas 2021 will be here. 68. 2 months. Panicked yet? Honestly friends, you should be. I don't want to add to your doom-scrolling but I do have some important points to share with you in how this year is shaping up from a Metrowest Massachusetts small business owner's perspective.
First and foremost: a good number of the things you think you'll be able to buy for your loved ones this year will still be stuck in a shipping container somewhere between here and China when you're sitting in your home opening presents this year. If you're hearing the term "supply chain" for the first time this year, please please understand it will be affecting all of us. Deeply. The supply chain is the pathway that goods get from manufacturers to retailers to customers in very basic speak. And it's broken. Covid. Government issues. Lack of people to build stuff. The reasons are many but the bottom line is this year will not be pretty in terms of availability of items and pricing of the available remaining stock.
Secondly: Costs. Our dear friends at the USPS decided a big hike in pricing was in order to celebrate their slowing down of the service small business owner's like us count on. So not only are packages not going to get to our customers as fast as they normally would, it also costs more to ship them more slowly. And not by cents...this was a significant increase in cost. After they just increased prices in August as well. So the expectation of free shipping this year comes at a detriment to many small business owners like us.
Third: As a culture, we tend to want last minute, down and dirty shopping. LOL No. Nope. Not anymore. This is a massive Nuh Uh. Why? Because we have to be mindful and plan our holiday shopping this year due to the above critical challenges. Covid is still here and unless we change our patterns, we will be tripped up big time this holiday buying season.
Ok, I'm done with the depressing stuff. Hopefully you're catching the seriousness of my messaging here to know that if you want to support small, local, women-owned businesses, you'll understand where I'm coming from in raising the alarms 68 days before presents should be unwrapped by the tree. (PS it's only 41 days until the beginning of Hannukah. ONLY 17 DAYS UNTIL DIWALI. I think we are good on stressing the timeline.)
So I'm here to offer solutions. As a small business owner, it's important for me to help customers shop well with me. I am invested in the recipients of your gifts to be delighted by the quality, ease, and experience of buying from Brooklyn + Rye. Here are my solutions to this year's unique dumpster fire for retail during the holidays of 2021.
1. Purchase your gifts and have them shipped before December 1st 2021.
This is straight from the mouths of the USPS in Hudson, MA. And please be mindful that shipping timelines are merely suggestions at this point. Much like speed limits in MA.
2. Purchase Gift Cards.
Y'all. Do you know how fast an electronic gift card arrives? SECONDS. Literal seconds. And they're free to send.
USPS who?
And if you're into sending the real deal, it costs a lot less to send an actual gift card than a package. Just know we have you covered on both fronts!
3. Shop our Holiday House/Grand Opening Party November 13th.
You'll get to shop early, save, AND support a small, women-owned business.
We have been fortunate to have been buying ahead of the busy season. And because of this, we have an excellent stock of many wonderful items to gift this holiday season. We can also help you with any corporate gifting needs as well!
Viva la Small Biz and THANK YOU for supporting women-owned small businesses. We are the cornerstone of communities and without your help, we wouldn't be able to survive.
xO Molly