Price of materials going up, including foam products

“This is incredible what’s going on and you would think at this point we would have all figured out how to make it work and get easier, but we’re actually seeing lead times getting worse,” he said.

Leidal says their store is fully stocked and you can shop off the floor.

They’re ordering items ahead of schedule and are already planning for this winter.

But the price of materials has also been going up including foam.

“So we’ve been seeing 2,3,4 price increases in the past 2-3 months here.”

Leidal says there was an issue with the factory in Texas which caused a worldwide foam shortage.

“That supplies a chemical to produce foam. And when they had their cold snap I guess it knocked out a big refinery,” he explained.

According to a spokesperson with Mattress Mattress, customers can expect a 0-10 percent increase in mattress retail due to rising foam costs. While their cost from manufactures is a 4-12 percent increase, which doesn’t factor in freight.

With the huge demand and less supply, it’s affecting manufactures to the point where they’re cutting shifts.

“It’s just causing further delays. What used to be 4-6 weeks in a lot of cases for us to get a product is now 24-30 weeks out,” Leidal said.

Leidal says mattresses are still okay for arrival time with a 2-4 week wait but they’re noticing a delay in living room furniture.

“Right now we’re over 24 weeks with one of our big Canadian suppliers.”

Meantime, dealerships are still playing catch up from last year.

When COVID hit, Ford shut down their factories and started making personal protective equipment instead of vehicles for about three and a half months.

“There were about 168-thousand vehicles that didn’t make it into Canada during that time so that’s quite a bit,” Sales GM with Big M Ford Lincoln, Sandy MacDonald said.

Supply issues also continue, with a global semiconductor shortage.

“Semiconductors are used in all computers and treadmills. Every vehicle needs one of these to run. So basically there’s a shortage around the world and it’s affecting all of the manufactures,” MacDonald explained.

MacDonald says suppliers figure by the end of the 2nd quarter that things should start to pick up a little bit.

“They’re actually building the vehicles and they’re sitting at the factory and once they get the semiconductors they put it in the vehicle and send it out,” he added.

If you’re looking for a vehicle, MacDonald says retail pricing has stayed the same.

And trade-in values have never been higher.

by Chantal Wagner

Price of materials going up, including foam products

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