OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Black Friday started one of the most important shopping seasons for Oklahoma City small businesses. This year, the global supply chain shortage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is causing concern for some.

“The last year-and-a-half has just been all about making those pivots,” said Audrey Falk, owner of Shop Good, located in downtown OKC.

Shop Good has had issues with stocking their high quality T-shirts that are mostly shipped in from overseas.

“So, sometimes it’s hard for us to get those in a timely manner or to get the colors that we thought we needed, but we’ve been able to find other suppliers here locally and then make some changes about what we’re offering in our catalog,” Falk said.

Another metro business, Plenty Mercantile, lost critical sales days for some Christmas products because a shipment was two months late. Now, they’re hoping they can sell all those items in this short holiday season window.

Co-Founder and CEO Brittney Matlock said the supply chain crisis has affected their business in multiple ways. To get ahead of the potential troubles, they ordered their Christmas season 2021 stock back in January.

“We wouldn’t have had the product that we require to flip into profit to stay in business otherwise,” she explained.

Although they have American shippers, those suppliers are having delays on their materials.

“So, it’s starting to kind of creep up and up and up and up the supply chain which ultimately will affect the consumer because if we can’t get it, they can’t buy it in the stores,” Matlock continued.

She already knows they won’t be able to restock in the the two weeks right before Christmas like they typically do.

“So, if you like something or see something, I wouldn’t hesitate to get it,” Matlock is advising customers. “Because in past years, we’ve had restocks on holiday décor specifically coming in, but this year we know we won’t have time to get that.”

And the supply chain issues are expected to continue. So, Plenty Mercantile will be ordering their products for Christmas 2022 before the end of this year.