MI Industry Grapples with Product Shortages as Holiday Season Kicks Off

On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Peter Dods, president of Easy Music Center in Honolulu, was nearly sold out of affordable 88-key keyboards. By mid-day on Cyber Monday, he was completely flush out. COVID-related product shortages have been plaguing the MI industry in recent months, and with the holidays now upon us, many in the industry are feeling the strain.

“We were running low on studio monitors and 88-key digital keyboards before Black Friday, and now we’re totally wiped out,” Dods said. “We think we could easily do another 10 to 20 percent in sales if we had more 88-key keyboards in stock. The customer demand is there for sure.”

For Larry Noto, owner of Music Land in Bel Air, Maryland, having enough drum sets and keyboards to carry his store through the holiday season is a concern.

“We’re not out of anything yet, but we are getting close and it’s only the start of December,” Noto said, adding that ordering big during the summer was one way he hoped to ease holiday stocking woes. “We took the leap of faith with a lot of our vendors, especially Fender, and ordered big during the summer, so a lot of the inventory is coming in now and we’re pretty well stocked, especially on entry-level amps, guitars and starter packs.”

Keith Grasso, manager of Island Music Co. in La Plata, Maryland, also took a pro-active approach.

“We’re very lucky as we recognized in early spring the potential for supply shortages going into the summer and holiday season,” Grasso said. “We’ve been able to load up on just about everything we need with the exception of a few lower-end items.”

Chris Griffiths, chief sales officer at D’Addario, said COVID-19 shortages have been driven by a combination of interruptions in manufacturing facilities, logistical shipping delays when booking ocean liners and an unprecedented demand from people staying home and learning to play an instrument.

“I think industry wide there is definitely a risk of a shortage,” Griffiths said, adding that D’Addario manufacturers a slew of its product in the U.S., including many guitar accessories, strings, drumsticks, drum heads, reeds and mouthpieces, which has helped to lighten stock concerns. “For our products manufactured here, I would say our channel has an unprecedented amount of inventory already in stock.”

Griffiths said D’Addario’s dealers have a tendency to order in “real time.” As a result, D’Addario offers same-day shipping for independent dealers who order before 3 p.m. EST, leading the company to set aside inventory to make sure those orders are fulfilled between now and the end of the year.

“Our number one [focus] is that when the customer reaches for a product at retail or online they can get it and that it’s not out of stock, and I think we’ve done an exceptional job to make sure that those hooks are full in time for the holidays,” Griffiths explained. “I would argue that there’s probably not a ton of back stock with some of these retailers or even in our own inventory, but for our best-selling products, if a customer wants to reach for it this holiday season, they’re going to find it.”

Still, this season is a little more tense for many retailers.

“It’s been kind of rough for everyone,” Dods said. “We’ve tried to help by doubling our PO sizes, but it’s not really working. This holiday season will probably be lukewarm due to lack of supply.”