Managing inventories a pandemic headache for American businesses

Managing inventories a pandemic headache for American businesses

NEW YORK: More than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, American businesses are still struggling to manage their inventories in a feast-or-famine cycle caused by fickle consumer demand. “We have way too much inventory right now,” said Ginny Pasqualone, chief executive of Sparkledots, a children’s clothing manufacturer.

“It’s important that we have a large selection of merchandise that our clients can choose from,” she said, but store traffic has been hit by inflation concerns, with some customers “very scared that they’re not going to survive another recession.” For now, Sparkledots is holding more goods in inventory, but that ties up company capital and limits its ability to add to its 18-worker staff.

“It sucks our growth for the future,” Pasqualone said. Such is the dilemma affecting businesses of all sizes. Large store chains like Walmart, Target and Macy’s have acknowledged in recent weeks that they misread consumer patterns, leaving them with excess supplies of appliances, casual clothing and bicycles. Bicycles were a hot commodity early in the pandemic, prompting surprisingly large orders, said Wayne Sosin, owner of Worksman Cycles, a New York manufacturer best known for its tricycles.

“Retailers bought whatever they could as if bike sales would continue to have unprecedented demand,”