The Latest Pandemic Shortage is A High-End Item In Your Kitchen

Looks like everyone has all the T.P. they need. There's now a different shortage upon us.

It sounds odd at first but when you think about it, the latest pandemic shortage makes a lot of sense: appliances, specifically refrigerators and freezers are flying out the door and leaving store showrooms bare.

When meat plants kept shutting down due to COVID-19, that left a shortage in supply of their product on grocery shelves, but not in people's homes. Folks were stocking up,  but then running out of places to store it. Go buy a new fridge or freezer, right? Not to mention, people sitting at home more often, looking at their current appliances while binging even more HGTV, and simply dreaming longingly of something new. That, in turn, leaves a shortage of that product, and according to KWWL, the appliance industry itself was already slowing production due to the pandemic.

It may be a little easier at big box store retailers, but local appliance store owners aren't hearing much about when production is going to speed up. One store owner in Waterloo tells KWWL they have a backlog of up to 90 orders to restock their store and 20 of those are already sold to customers waiting to take them once they come in.

There's even a rush on stoves and laundry appliances. When something breaks down and you can't wait the 4-8 weeks it is currently taking to get a new one, you have to call for a repair or a "loaner". So, chalk it up to the weirdness of 2020 and the current pandemic: it's as if the appliance industry is in both a boom and a slump at the same time.