Well, I promised an update and compilation — but with 300 comments and counting, I don’t know I can do justice to it.
A few that jumped out;
– I work for a military supplier; we are be told that on some of our crucial parts that Feb. of 2023 is now the ship date.
– For the last six months I’ve been trying to get my hands on a Playstation 5, but can’t find one anywhere due to a semi-conductor shortage.
– I work at a Canadian Tire just outside of Ottawa. Here is a snap shot of some of the things disappearing: Oil and lubricants of all types and viscosity, some auto parts, solar panels and power inverters. That’s just auto parts dept. Auto service: tires are disappearing; all brands. According to the national tire distribution centre, many popular tire sizes and manufacturers are back ordered indefinitely.
– Local garage owner in Saskatoon said his supplier told him that winter tires will be completely gone by end of the month.
– Ag tires too.
– I see all the tricks and symptoms in the grocery stores today – one product fanned 1 unit deep across an entire display to make the shelf look full, but nothing behind it; upside down boxes underneath the produce to make the bin look full; shelves that despite their best efforts have huge gaps and ‘holes’.(downtown Toronto)
– A 10 foot piece of galvanized steel service entrance mast for new electrical service went from 145.00 to 225.00 in 12 months. 12 foot sections are completely unavailable…
– My electrician has had breaker switches on order for over a year now. No word yet.
– lots of reports on unavailability of furniture and windows
– Paint store can’t sell any dark paint, because they are completely out of deep base.
– Wife works in housing industry here in Calgary. Homes are being sold SANS Dishwashers, Microwaves and amid a severe shortage of appliances.
– Cat litter and canned cat food, prescription diet dog and cat food, veterinary pharmaceuticals
– Hockey jerseys
– My local Independent didn’t have potatoes twice this year. Potatoes!
– I run the parts department in a heavy truck shop. We are running low on things like brake drums, light bulbs, and Diesel Exhaust Fluid, as well as electronic sensors and modules…waited three months now for a remanufactured transmission for a Ram 5500, now going on two months for a For Powertrain Control Module for an F450, with no ETA in sight. My supplier for brake drums just got a trailer load, and on top of the price going up about 45%, there was a $90,000.00 “Container Fee.”
– On many of my jobs structural Steel has 9-12 month lead times. Bids on steel will only hold their prices for as little as 48 hours in some cases as the price is so volatile.
– I noticed Retailers here in BC cancelling flyer distributions lately because they don’t have the products listed in them. Inside knowledge.
– I work with close to 100 trucking companies of all sizes. Here’s what I’m seeing…
– I live in Houston, Texas.I work on a food truck. We’ve had trouble getting several items from our suppliers [Sysco and others], including hot fudge, plastic cups and lids, certain sizes of Styrofoam bowls, strawberries, and others.
Go grab a coffee and read them for yourself.
-
Original post continues below.
Reader KW, via email;
I was looking to buy some ABS pipe. It’s the black pipe used for drains and sewers from a home. It’s is completely unavailable in my city in any length with a three inch size. I’m seeing more and more shortages in this town. The same is true for some kinds of electrical breakers.
Your website have a incredible verity of readers from around North America and in a lot of professions.
It would be fascinating for you to set up a comment section when anyone can share their experiences around the country with shortages. I notice that there is less that can be bought in stores. I wonder what other parts of the country are going through?The price of the goods that are available are also going up fast. I guess “the budget balancing itself” and intentionally increased energy prices has led to inflation.
The comments are open for your observations and reports only, and please include your region or city. This is an informal survey – not a debate or discussion. Off topic and link dumps will be deleted.
Update: These comments are quite the read. I’m pinning this post to the end of the day, then will do an update and compilation tomorrow.
There’s a black Sri Lankan tea that I like drinking. The only place where I’ve been able to find it in recent years was Save-On Foods.
For at least the last year, I haven’t been able to find it, either in Edmonton or Fort St. John. It could be coincidence as maybe the chain decided to stop selling it. However, when I asked about what happened here in Edmonton, I was told by a store employee that a shipment might be pending.
Recently, I noticed that the SOF in Fort St. John carried Yorkshire tea. I’m not sure if it always stocked it or if it’s a replacement for what I’ve been looking for.
Yorkshire Tea ( loose is best) is excellent.
Normally, the nearby SuperStore stocks 2 or 3 varieties of loose Indian tea. At the same time I noticed that Save-On Foods didn’t have the Sri Lankan variety, SS was out of those as well.
Eventually, it was back on the shelves after a month or so.
Remember that the Sri Lankan government has made a great leap backwards by decreeing (maybe I should say mandating?) that it will be the first country with all-organic agriculture – no chem fertiliser. Estimates have the tea production cut by about half.
I be wary of that Yorkshire tea, it probably came from the infamous Yorkshire Tea Mines.
The local T&T market (in NW Calgary) used to have a full tea shop inside their store (2 years ago). I would estimate over 200 types of tea, all professionally packaged and labelled (some multi-lingually, including English). I once spent about 10 minutes talking to a (very knowledgeable) employee about types of yellow tea, and I thoroughly enjoyed her recommendation.
The tea shop has been closed and the loose-leaf teas are now found in the herbal medicines department as zip-locked bags labelled with a sharpie with only Chinese characters and price. No thanks. The employee in that section insists that there is no such thing as yellow tea, that there’s nothing between an oolong and a white tea.
It’s not just the supplies, it’s the people who know what to do with them/how to use them.
Yesterday, Harbor Freight had some empty shelves. Electrical cords and their first aid sections were especially hard hit.
True also in Southern Ohio Harbor Fright stores.
Can’t find Tejava tea in my stores right now.
Quite a few missing products in the grocery shops here in the UK, but things I have noticed that are in short supply are:
1. Common sense
2. Logic
3. Reasoning.
This list is not exhaustive – please feel free to add your own observations………
Are crisps scarce? Yesterday at the post office a young man was getting the postal attendant to help him cram 2 bags of chips into a box destined for the UK. The box was clearly not going to accommodate them. The chips were salt and malt vinegar flavour, probably the most common flavour available over there? They used tape to cover the gapes in the box, and the young man forked over an absurd amount of money to dispatch them.
I could not understand the economics I was seeing…unless a very desperate person over the pond was in chip withdrawal.
No shortages of crisps in London.
I work for a military supplier; we are be told that on some of our crucial parts that Feb. of 2023 is now the ship date.
These are Tiawanese mfg parts not China.
Went to buy the 2 inch wide with metal and rubber garage door seal. Was told they are having issues trying to obtain them. Saskatoon area.
Bought some in Lethbridge yesterday.
Gosh, seems like a business opportunity for those that have product in one area to act as purchaser/shipper to those who do not.
Problem is cost of shipping. At least in US, sending anything in a box across country has shot up in price to the point it is becoming prohibitive to do business.
Yes, supplies on the shelf are thinning out. Most hardware comes from abroad so it must be siting off California or on the docks seeing that the state wiped out more than 40% of all trucking business with idiot regulations and killed independent operators.
Enjoy the decline
small red oxygen tank, for my tiny torch. So I can remove old oxygen sensor in the PU truck.
Guelph/ Orangeville/ Georgetown
I stock a few. Bowman’s Home Hardware, Preston
I bought a lazyboy recliner in May. Still waiting, 6 months later. Last year we bought a bedroom set. Half came in 4 months, the rest took 8 months. We live in Boston area.
I bought an integrated, stacking washer/dryer by LG (one they are still advertising heavily in TV ads) from Home Depot (they had it $200 off on sale). I bought it in early August. Four FAILED delivery dates later … including one damaged machine (dented and shattered glass doors) … and I am still waiting. They assure me they ABSOLUTELY have it and will deliver Nov. 16.
I have found that I have to go to the smaller family owned independent appliance stores and shop for what they have in stock. I bought a dented fridge (tiny dent, full warranty) at my local one in the Boston area (2 location chain) in August. I NEEDED a fridge asap because, well, my fridge broke!
Never buy anything LG, the worst consumer service of all major brands. Also, (at least in Ontario) the service on house appliances has to be done by an LG tech and they do more damage than fix. Useless, absolutely useless, never again. We ended up paying a friend in US to buy parts from an LG supplier and send them to us by mail.
We’ve had the opposite experience. Have a houseful of LG appliances and like them all, a lot (gas range, dishwasher, fridge, microwave, washer, dryer — and my phone, which I love. Had some work done ‘re: an issue with the dishwasher. Had very knowledgeable service person, got it fixed quickly, under warranty.
We had a Samsung gas range. Or Sam ung as we called it because the “S” fell off. Was absolute crap. Now have a high-end GE gas range. Great unit. Also still have a Sam ung over-the-range microwave/exhaust fan also crap, but still there ($). Have an outstanding LG high-capacity top-load washer. Couldn’t be happier.
Samsung fridge quit after 15 years; fixed easily for 2 bucks 8 years ago…still working.
Similar experience! #METOO Coast Appliances has tons on order but they are saying Jan/Feb now for these in Black.
Regina has some white ones.
New dining room table, arrived scratched… we have been waiting for three months for a replacement top. They are not stalling, they are literally out of stock and waiting for shipments from India. They even offered us a 20% discount just so they can close the file. Tried some wood treatments and we may keep what we got.
Markup on those tables is crazy; offered %20, request %60-70, they’ll counter. There is a book in every collectibles department that outlines where the “file manager” can go on a deal, you just have to find out where it is….
Go for it!!
I used to be a commercial interior designer and would design a coffee table or dining table and have it made in a millwork shop – would get exactly what I wanted, beautiful workmanship and made in Canada. All of my custom furniture has lasted between 20 years (sofa and still good) and 40 years (book cases).
Sadly, in January 2019, I purchased an easy chair from The Brick. The quality is crap and now I will spend more money having it properly re-upholstered by a true professional. I feel for all of those who have to buy from a standard furniture store.
I feel for all of those who have to buy from a standard furniture store.
I don’t. I’ve got furniture at my house in B. C. that I’ve been trying to sell. It’s more than 40 years old, which means it was likely made in North America, using plywood or dense particle board, or, maybe, solid wood. All it needs is to be re-upholstered and it’s almost as good as new, lasting another 40 years.
Think anybody’s interested? Ha! In fact, someone responded to one ad I placed and told me that it was junk and that I should pay to get rid of it.
In Northern Ontario.
For the last six months I’ve been trying to get my hands on a Playstation 5, but can’t find one anywhere due to a semi-conductor shortage. I can’t even get one on deliverable back order. The only ones available are by way of scalpers, charging twice what they’re worth. I hardly need one that badly as its a luxury, and can wait for as long as is necessary. However, it does bring to mind how backed up production must be getting in regards to things that require these semi-conductors, such as cars, computers, and all kind of other electronics and appliances.
My son signed himself up on a watch list on the Playstation website in January, after are unsuccessful effort to get him one for Christmas. 10 Months later he received notification from Playstation that he was eligible to buy one, but only for a limited time. We got the order in ASAP, and it arrived last week, at the regular price 🙂
We made a deposit for PS5 at EB Games as soon as they started taking deposits. That was early this year, they called us for pick up about two months later. Kids loved it for the first few days, played Uncharted and then went back to grinding COD on Xbox. It has been gathering dust ever since.
In early October my wife ordered a table from Structube in Calgary. We were told it was to be delivered the last week in October. When we called a week before delivery they told us it would not be available until late December or early January at best. Many furniture store websites have lots of listings, but most do not have any stock to offer.
I tried to order desk legs from Ikea, but they didn’t have any in Calgary. I signed up for email notification when they were to be available. They now don’t have a delivery date on the legs at all and are now giving options to my original choice. Strange for a chain that is always fully stocked with merchandise.
I work for a plastic molding company. I’m not in the day to day of it, but for almost 2 years we’ve had difficulty getting the plastic resins we need. It’s getting better (/sarc) because the glass additive (for strength) manufacturer, Corning, who manufactures the majority of glass fill in North America, is getting out of the glass business, and that’s going to drive further shortages of reinforced plastic. Recently we had shipments of components and plastics from China worth around $144K, and we paid $90K in shipping fees to get it here.
Day to day personally? It’s very common for specific products to disappear out of the stores for a few weeks, lots more out of stock than ever before.
I have had filters ordered for a 2001 piece of equipment since April. They say they have them ,but every time I inquire they have not arrived. Lloydminster area.
I work at a Canadian Tire just outside of Ottawa. Here is a snap shot of some of the things disappearing: Oil and lubricants of all types and viscosity, some auto parts, solar panels and power inverters. That’s just auto parts dept. Auto service: tires are disappearing; all brands. According to the national tire distribution centre, many popular tire sizes and manufacturers are back ordered indefinitely. Spoke to an NTD rep a few months ago, I asked about the tire shortage situation. He said that according to his sources, China bought up all Rubber manufacturers in Thailand, and is withholding shipments of rubber to the big tire manufacturers in North America (cannot verify).
I have a brother-in-law that works at a oil/tire change place in Saskatchewan. He is also echoing the same things such as tires and various oils for vehicles becoming harder to near impossible to find.
I have a store that deals with LED and lighting and while those lights I use are still coming in, the quality/reliability and low costs are no longer there.
Nothing specific, but I’m in downtown Toronto, and I worked briefly stocking store shelves once.
I see all the tricks and symptoms in the grocery stores today – one product fanned 1 unit deep across an entire display to make the shelf look full, but nothing behind it; upside down boxes underneath the produce to make the bin look full; shelves that despite their best efforts have huge gaps and ‘holes’. I feel for the guys who are trying to make things look normal, but they’re fighting a losing battle.
I talked to a produce clerk yesterday. He said back orders are a mess, half the things don’t even show in the system, and they just pray that the truck has what they need. Well, the people voted for this clown show, so let ’em get it good and hard.
Volvo semi trucks has parts shortages for Volvo brand nox Sensors. Only ones available are aftermarket brands. Supposedly they are just as good. But if they are out of stock on them the truck will not run because the engine computer derates the truck to 5 miles an hour. Not fun.
Calgary, Alberta.
Truck country for sure
Have 3 in my immediate Family/circle of friends who work for Dealerships: Hyundai and GM.
Both Dealerships have lots that are less than 1/2 full of new…and when it comes to Trucks used and otherwise..??
New comes in PRE-Bought (especially Diesel), up to 2-3 months prior. Full List paid.
USED..?? NON EXISTANT or complete trashs.
I’m pretty sure I could sell my ’06 Duramax w/602K kms on it for 35-40K CAD in a heartbeat..
But that will never happen…although I’m thinking that the “Club” would be a very good investment – may go buy one today in fact..!!
Same thing here in the states. Our truck took a little over 4 months. Friend snagged the only new car on the Subaru lot. Sales guy told her new were selling in 4 days. All the used cars and trucks have also been snapped up. What you can get for a used car or truck is at historic highs but you may not be able to get another vehicle if you let one go. Another friend said they passed massive lots of RAMs assembled but waiting for chips somewhere between Chicago and Lansing. I understand Ford has been doing the same thing. Makes you wonder what’s going to happen when all that inventory cuts loose. Some of these business decisions seem desperate.
Groceries are hit or miss. Went to 3 hardware stores to get enough of one paint. Hearing that furniture and appliances are in short supply with long waits and also packing boxes and shrink wrap which might explain some of the beat up boxes with massive holes arriving with our deliveries. Had to send an oven back due to a massive dent (although the box was pristine in this case – delivery guy said that is happening enough that he now takes photos of the boxes so he doesn’t get dinged or fired). In general what is available is adequate but it might not be exactly what you want. Unbox and check everything at once. Got something with no screws because they probably fell out of the giant hole in the box. Company sent us a completely new workbench and didn’t want anything to do with the old one. Couldn’t send us just screws or tell us what we needed to go get and didn’t want the bench returned. Workers are in sort supply. All kinds.
Not only Volvo, most other truck brands too. I deliver truck parts and the supply of nox sensors has dried up. Some of the shops I deliver to now order several dozen at a time so when stock arrives they get a few.
Two chairs ordered online from major Canadian retailer chains delayed three times each, cancelled both. Trampoline ordered in February never arrived, cancelled. Locally, lumber in normal sizes is either not available or triple the price owing to demand and dwindling supply.
Perth County Ontario, near Stratford and Kitchener.
Fraser Valley, BC: aluminum livestock feeders, Avant loader (Finnish-made) attachments/parts, certain types of diet soda, new furniture.
A 10 foot piece of galvanized steel service entrance mast for new electrical service went from 145.00 to 225.00 in 12 months.
12 foot sections are completely unavailable, so I had to buy 2 10 foot sections plus the connector plus extra to the electrician to cut and splice plus extra cost to deal with the leftover 8 foot piece.
Result: final cost of 450.00 vs 145.00 in a year, 300%++ inflation.
I have been doing a major remodel of my home, and I have struggled to find simple Carlon electrical boxes. The standard blue colored electrical boxes. No 2×4 or 4×4 switch/outlet boxes (the most common, heavily used sizes. I am buying all the materials for my electrical contractor, and have had to send him home once because I couldn’t get material.
Thankfully, I installed my new electrical service almost a year ago (cheap electrical mast and head piece) … but my recessed 42-space electrical meter panel had to be ordered direct from Eaton … and took 6-weeks to get.
My electrician has had breaker switches on order for over a year now. No word yet.
Square D piggyback breakers (two small 15 amp in a standard sized breaker case) are unavailable in Vancouver, as is 3/#6 cabtire.
Two colleagues tried to buy new couches this year. Initial orders were over twelve months shipping times. on their second picks they were both given six month delivery dates which wound up being over nine months in reality.
Just had 3 windows installed late last month…nothing fancy just your basic 24×36 casements. Received the quote in early April and gave them the green light the next day. That’s almost 7 months folks.
Had a chance to talk to the boss man on the day of installation. He said what used to be 2 or 3 week waiting times for windows and siding is now measured in months. I don’t know what it’s like out there but here in Ontario it seems new homes are going for the blacks, greys and taupes with respect to siding and shingles, exacerbating an already bad situation. Aluminum sheet for chimney flashing, fascia and roof valleys? Next to impossible. The only producer of aluminum is Alcan in Quebec which certainly doesn’t help matters and things were reasonably ok during the “crisis” but when things started to get a little more relaxed everyone’s brother is putting their order in which doesn’t help from an availability perspective.
Filled up my Propain 100 pounder the other day (Yeah, the misspelling was intentional because it really is painful)
and reminded me I’m going to have to be a little more judicious when it comes to heating up the shop. Holy Sh*t! No shortage yet but they’ll make you pay.
My refrigerator pooched last month – Realizing market shortages I thought I’d get cute by getting on it right away, and which I did.
Just got off the phone with the salesman two days ago and we’re looking at mid December for delivery which might be his way of saying early next year, I dunno. I can’t begin to tell you what a colossal pain in the ass that is. Yeah, I’ve got one downstairs but still. First world problems I guess.
Hope this helps.
Ditto on the windows – ordered 3 custom fit windows in late June, still waiting 4+ months later. The contract has a clause in it that indicates we can cancel if they don’t deliver within 6 weeks. What would be the point? No one else is going to deliver faster. We are being fully conditioned to accept the pace of life under totalitarian socialism.
Went to order triple full window and double half window yesterday. No delivery until March. Tennessee, USA
Virtually all lumber is unavailable at the market price of only a year ago.
Gasoline is up 50%. Zero availability at the Trump price of a year ago.
Beef and pork- unavailable at prices of a year ago. Pork chops now costs what beef sirloin cost last year, off-sale.
New and used autos – all unavailable at the Trump era prices of one year ago.
Rents and home prices – unavailable at the prices of the Trump era. Rents up 19%.
Appliances unavailable at most retail outlets, without months long waits.
Air conditioner parts for warranty work- 10 week + waits.
Got to get back to work, now…
I was tipped a couple months ago, from another site, that’s prepper style, warning of oncoming supply shock shortages, to take stock and plan, get what you need, and of course, taking inflation into account.
Our life is much simpler now, as we approach and enter retirement, we’v taken care of the major items the last few years, though one never knows.
So, we’ve been stocking up on food items.
A few flats of canned veggies, fresh veggies could get in short supply or get too costly. $5 lettuce anyone?
Bought the big pork loin, our kid calls it whale dick. At 2.39/lb, it carved into 10 roasts.
Just bought over 20lbs of sirloin tip roast at $5/lb, and need to cut it down today into meal chunks. The cost of beef is ridiculous, so when you see a deal like this, invest! And freeze it correctly.
Beef, chicken, pork prices are all on the rise, don’t get hosed paying double what I just paid at the new regular prices. Invest heavily when the cut and price is on a good sale.
Where are you?
A friend works for a large equipment manufacturer in Ontario. He is charge of ordering materials. First, it was steel – couldn’t find specific sizes. Then it was getting quotes for parts. The quotes went to be good for 6 months (at the beginning of the year) to being good for a month (April) to being only good for one day (June), and now, because of a ransomware hacker attack, they are building their equipment from memory with the parts that they have in stock and trying to rebuild their computer systems.
He bought a Chevy Volt (hybrid with electric primary) and after two weeks, it stopped charging. He took it to the dealership, and they literally did not have any knowledge of where they might be able to get the part. It took 10 weeks to get the part and have it installed. He drove it for the first time yesterday.
My mechanic told me about a local driver with a VW Tiguan that blew the turbo charger, and when they went to ask VW about parts, they were told that they wouldn’t have any parts for 4 months. And they still can’t get some brands of tires for foreign autos.
And that is just off the top of my head in Cambridge, Ontario, And as to Stats Canada and their figures for inflation, I have seen some products with 16% inflation in the grocery store because I do all the shopping for my family of 5. So saying that the average is only 5% is bovine excrement of the smelliest variety (sorry, off topic, but related). Another government lie.
One solution to the car parts problem- buy brands with reliable turbos, like Honda. Or Toyotas
A neighbor wanted to get a couple more 700 bushel V boxes. Called a Mennonite manufacturing firm, the owner thought he could scrounge enough parts to get 1 made and no idea when he would have enough components to do the 2nd. 3 months or more, best guess. They bought used.
My 2009 Dodge van is sitting in my driveway unusable because the ignition switch, which has been subject to a recall for a long time is broken. I called the dealership and they will replace it at no cost when they get the part and they have no idea how long it will take to get the part. It’s a good thing I have another vehicle, or my might be looking for a new one, because I can’t get an ignition switch. I live in southern Ontario.
Chrysler and electrical engineering still have this ongoing thing do they?
’68 Fury 3 wiring harness
’75 Cordoba wiring harness
’94 LeBaron (sister-in-law owned this one) computer failure caused by corroded ground strap. This occurred within 4 of years of new.
Good luck with your van.
2004 Toyota Tacoma ignition switch cylinder. From auto parts store, $80 and available in March, maybe. Ordered from the dealership $255 plus HST and I guess I should be glad I got it. Southwestern Ontario
That’s a pretty old recall and, IIRC, the concern was the switch failing while the vehicle is in motion. At least it failed in the driveway…if you’re looking for a bright side there. FYI…that part is available at rockauto.com if you’re in a jam.
This morning in Muskoka, I watch an electric car try 6 times to get the charger to work for them on a 3 charger station only to give up after twenty minutes….3 miles away, he was FORD(found on road dead).
Another vehicle tried to help and couldn’t. Needed to call a tow truck in the end.
Music equipment.
The scamdemic created a group of new students, wannabe guitar players, etc.
Waiting lists for favoured brands stretches into months, sometimes years.
Old stock sold out, new stock has wait times.
Paint store can’t sell any dark paint, because they are completely out of deep base. No five gallon buckets of primer either. Saskatoon
Agree, my Dulux guy said he was back-ordered on all sorts of exterior paints, deep base interiors, and the higher end industrial oil base stuff. Delivery time unknown.
Still, I was able to get the couple of gallons I wanted. Lucky they were white.
The main drag of our small town is made up of mostly fast food outlets and car dealerships. Dodge/Ford-Merc/GM-Cadillac.
Those lots are anemic to empty. Normally they lease off site facilities for excess stock.
5 minutes after posting that I happened to travel down that strip. Dodge just had a big delivery of trucks. So now I’m a liar.
I’m north east of the GTA.
But do they have all the parts they need to run/ sell?
Drove through dealership alley in Guelph last week. You could fire a cannon through most of the showrooms and lots and not hit a thing.
You may want to mention to your local Mercury dealer that he is unlikely to receive new stock anytime soon… yeah I know you meant Lincoln.
Saskatoon through our leasing Company in Downers Grove Il. 9 Ford F150super crew 4×4 with a heavy haul package ordered Feb 05/ 2021. Delivery was June July/ Been delayed and now cancelled by Ford. No heavy hauls available. Replacement was again scheduled for delivery Sept / Oct 2021, now delayed Jan / Feb 2022. The new ones orders are taken no projected manufacture date. That never happens.
Am Hearing from friends at Carter Chev Olds here in Calgary: Trucks are being sold with NO Entertainment system – No Radio and likely no TNR’s (touchscreen Navs etc, ONstar etc.) …….and bought n paid for 6-8 weeks prior to landing on the lot.
One wonders if we will see a return to vehicles without Electronic “anything” systems…Got a 63 Fairlane still running…Keep it.!!
A $5.00 map is more useful than all that electronic crap.
Hubby looking for a 70 amp electrical breaker. Found ONE in Edmonton and had to beg and plead for the supplier to hang on to it until he got there (an hour drive away). Reno supplies also getting hard to source. Exterior doors for one project went up $100 each overnight.
Much of Western Canada wired with Federal Pioneer panels & breakers. FP was bought out by a competitor, no more breakers. Very expensive if you can find them at all. In many cases it’s cheaper to buy a new panel & breakers than replace some of the larger breakers. You can get some cash back by reselling your FP breakers. Was looking for a narrow 50 amp, 240 volt for months, found one last week.
I’ve struggled to find the specific Eaton breakers I needed for my job.
Kenji, you live in California and you have a job? You’re not doing it correctly.
My nephew and his wife (in Berkeley) had a second baby about 4 months ago, and neither of them has had to turn up for work since.
No.
I have experienced shortages of liquor continuously since March 2020. The supply chain just can’t keep up with the demand. Problem doesn’t appear to be unique to South Western Ontario. Hoping to find a new equillibrium soon.
I would suspect hoarding here. People will go without cheese, new windows or a car, but their evening drink(s)? That’s a bridge too far!
Time to consider a still?
Australian and New Zealand wines are being help up in the port of Vancouver. No telling when they’ll be off-loaded.
My brother has been using a still for years. I may have to buy him some extra sugar. Sometimes I see lotsa sugar, and sometimes I see half empty shelves for days.
I like the Medium Hamburger in the 1lb tubes, but it is so hard to find. I don’t like lean. The tubes do not get frostbite.
I hear you Rick. I just bought a 3 weeks supply of beer for the second time this week. Talk about supply and demand!
We have a Labatts plant in London. Some beers are starting to disappear. May need to buy enuff for winter soon.
I haven’t checked for homebrewing supplies lately, but I’m sure they might be in greater demand now.
I have been making my own for over a decade. Brewers supplies vanished early in Kungflu. Even now, if ya get picky ya get nuthin. I am in negotiations with my favourite vintner to culture yeasts with his guidance. The stress generated by shortages in his business are actually life threatening for him. I suggested he retire for the sake of his health. He replied that he would rather be dead than homeless.
On the furniture front the only new furniture in my home are oak book shelves custom made by a local semiretired cabinet maker. They cost a little more than the cheap junk, from the furniture store but the money stays in town and the quality is unmatched they will last hundreds of years. The leather easy chairs are sixty or so and more comfortable now than when new. I expect they will out last me. If they don’t, I know a lady with the talent to make them better than new. She did a fine job of recovering my favourite sofa with elk hides when the original fabric wore out. Not cheap! But worth it! All the rest of my furniture are antiques at least 100 yrs old and some approaching 200. There is very little that comes via supply chain that I need. When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
Celery. I am going to miss celery. I can’t seem to grow celery.
Sunshine Coast BC.
If desperate for an Australian theme while it arrives you could try Roger Jose’s “Bush Champagne” – methylated spirits and Sal Vital
(https://www.amcal.com.au/salvital-effervescent—the-revitaliser—375g-p-9330130006360
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A70246)
A customer of mine won’t be getting their printed tyvek tag order because 3M stopped producing printable tyvek during covid.
Also Gildan t shirts (The most popular wearable item in the world) is out of stock in black and the most popular colours and styles.
Toronto Ontario
Rich
So no Tyvek..?? TAR paper then..?? Uhuh…I can see that getting kyboshed in a heartbeat by municipalities ’cause well Climate/Environmental Bullshit bla bla.
Wife works in housing industry here in Calgary. Homes are being sold SANS Dishwashers, Microwaves and amid a severe shortage of appliances.
North of GTA (N York – Vaughan area)
Misc construction/tools: fiberglass insulation (I’ve seen empty shelves at HomeDepot just like in stores E Europe in the 80s), various types of tools (specialty drill bits etc), different types of HVAC conduit
Electronics: you can’t buy/find anywhere in N America CPUs, like for ex like AMD Ryzen 5 3400G (“out of stock at all locations” + “not available online”), same for motherboards PCIe 4, video cards (although this shortage may be related to mining for bitcoin).
Canada caught with pants down. Worst time in a century and we’ve re-elected the most idiotic, incompetent and corrupt 🙁
Cat litter of all things – Cambridge On. Couldn’t get our preferred brand for a while, now it’s back but at 40-50% higher price. Tried amazon, it’s there but even higher price
Interesting point.
I noticed something similar this past summer. I used several large boxes of the stuff to dispose of some leftover shop chemicals that I inherited from my father.
I did this over several weeks and it seemed that the store I bought it at didn’t receive any new stock during that time.
Wyoming is full of bentonite. We just have to train the cat which ditch to pee in.
How about CAT Food..??
Our male needs Urinary tract food….found out today – no Stock
Communist China wants to kill my Cat.??
Bastards….
Can buy online at 50% markup no doubt
Cat food has been hard to find in my area (CT) for the past six weeks. I finally ordered online from Chewy, and I didn’t pay any more than I would have at the local Stop & Shop. I just looked online on the Chewy website for urinary tract health food for cats– here is the link: https://www.chewy.com/b/urinary-tract-health-12255
35 options. I don’t know what brand you’re looking for, or whether you’re looking for wet or dry cat food, but at least Chewy has some. I also can’t tell how their prices compare to what you usually pay. FWIW, I had to turn to them for kitty litter as well as cat food, and I’ve always been pleased with their service.
PA cat…thats exactly what we buy. So far have 1 local Vet that supplies it and close to home…with a bag on hand at all times. Who knows what will happen in 6 months time though…
Thank for that link..!!
Steakman in Calgary, Alberta
Have you tried Ren’s Pet depot? https://www.renspets.com Generally great experience and selection there. Not sure if they ship to where you are.
We have no cat food in Boston either! Fancy Feast is nowhere to be found! And my cat only likes the gravy kind!
Atlanta, GA area. Prescription wet cat food that my cat MUST have, everybody running out and waiting for shipments for about 6 weeks. Finally Chewy got it in again. My vet, PetSmart, Amazon, Chewy were all out or running out. Probably was floating off Los Angeles.
PA, Saskatchewan is out of large bags of cat and dog food, unless you go to a specialty store. Empty shelves at grocery stores and Canadian Tire.
Reply to all re cat food: know a vet who owns a clinic and keeping the shelves stocked has been a real challenge. Purina products, I understand, are relatively okay, but Hills and Royal Canin are having serious issues. The result is that there will be an empty space for a given product for a few weeks, then product comes in (and clinic orders all can get) so good for a week, and then an empty space for an unknown duration. The situation is so bad that the major supplier no longer accepts back-orders on an increasing number of products as the lists are growing too long to be manageable. This means each clinic is now having to run its own list of unfilled orders.
In the midst of this, Royal Canin has changed the amount of food in its large tins. Time was, RC large tins weighed in at 165 g while those of Hills and Purina were at 156 g. Now, all RC large tins are 145 g, a drop of 20 g.
But worse than the food shortage is that for medications. The vet I know says is having to keep larger stocks of medicines on hand because of supply issues; a given medication is available and so they stock up. As it is, some meds are in such short supply that vets are having to ration their use and – where possible – provide substitutes. It’s brutal out there.
If you have a farm and feed supply supply shop close to you try that as that’s where I buy my cat’s Royal Canin Urinary dry and wet food. It’s the non medicated type but it’s doing the job as the vets are harder to get into then a Dr’s office here.
Local garage owner in Saskatoon said his supplier told him that winter tires will be completely gone by end of the month. Also said he had 9 clients with inoperable Ford Focus’ due to inability to get computer control(pcm/ECM). He said Ford had 40,000 backordered.
A local window maker told me he can’t get any extruded window frame stock and has already been waiting a couple of months.
Also….Hockey jerseys are not getting delivered. So far my son’s team is making due with old jerseys and hockey tape for number alterations. Older son can’t get his high school gym kit, when I called the company, they are awaiting Under Armour items. This stuff usually arrives in the first couple of weeks of school.
Can’t find beg borrow or steal air-exchanger filters, they keep telling us they have a shipment coming-what year? 20/80 butter spread has disappeared from the dairy shelves, every where. Canada placed a tariff of 300 percent on all furniture not made in Canada, those that bought from China can’t afford to buy their furniture because the average price for a chair went from around 600 to 3000.
Inventory at local hardware stores (North Glengarry, Ontario) down at least 25 percent in 1 year. Many machine bolts in common sizes are not available. Same thing for machine & implement paint.
Contractors have been given priority on construction grade 2x4s, 2x6s, 2x8s. So for most of the summer, when there was anything available at all, the average Joe could only get subgrade crap at four or five times the prices of two years ago.
A few backyard sawmills have been doing a booming business by keeping lumber prices reasonable, but it will be only a matter of time before squealers sic the government hyenas on them.
I’ve been trying to buy a new couch since spring and I’m only looking at Canadian made, not imported. Wait time everywhere is minimum 6 months. I’ve looked in Burlington, Hamilton, and the Kitchener-Waterloo area.
Love seat 3 month delayed with another 2 month wait. Cancelled.
craigslist and marketplace, thank you.
Have you checked in Walkerton or Hanover?
Components, likely the fabrics are the holdup.
.45 ACP in bulk can’t be had anywhere unless I take out a bank loan. Lots of 9mm but I’m paying about $0.10 more a round than I did last year. Still stocking up on 12ga 00 and slug at a somewhat reasonable price…just in case the wild life gets aggressive. Fella at the gun shop said orders placed at the beginning of the year are trickling in. Getting pretty bored shooting 22LR at the range.
Tires… can’t find tires for my SUV for love nor money.
Calgary
Annie
did ya try kijiji…??
Local water guy here in Hooterville Ontario told me back in the spring that there was shortages of pool chemicals coming, and he was proved correct. He needed a new delivery truck back in 2020, took him until last week to finally get one that he’d bought and paid for in 2020 delivered. Covid delays at the factory making his specialized delivery box.
Personally, wanted to do the kitchen. All kitchen places I’ve talked to are running 4 month backlog due to A) being crushed with orders and B) shortages of plywood, MDF, paints, all sorts of things. Any kind of tile or counter top that comes from Europe is back-ordered. Retailers are saying that if they don’t have it in stock, I won’t see it until march/April/May. Maybe. If I’m lucky. Otherwise June/July.
Furniture, Mobilia told me they have stuff stuck in containers in the ocean, delivery unknown. New orders, 6 months delivery.
This isn’t really that new a thing though, I spent a lot of time and money to get brake backing plates for my F-250 in 2019. I guess there’s only so long you can have regulators throwing sand in the gears before things kind of grind to a halt.
My kitchen cabinets JUST went into production in a custom shop I’m using in Sacramento this week (too expensive here in the SF Bay Area) … I ordered the cabinets and had shop drawings in July.
Yes, I ordered them well ahead of time … but that “time” was supposed to be September … not December.
Linux friendly laptop computer back ordered 12 weeks.
A couple of weeks ago I was at superstore in Victoria and the meat department was really empty. There wasn’t any chicken breast to be found at all. Not a heck of a lot else either. You would never see that before. This wasn’t during one of the storms when ferries were cancelled either it was just a normal day.
Yeah, SS in Langford is at the end of the truck haul, believe it or not, their deliveries hit Duncan before Vic, according to a former friend that used to work there. So the Vic store has often not had sale items, or short shipments of certain items for years.
They used to have a lot of wastage at the store too, remember all those racks of clearance veggies and bakery items they had at 30-50% off? No more, that’s for sure.
Ditto their meat department, it’s not as stocked as it used to be, the purpose is to minimize wastage.
And I’m sure that’s because Costco is kicking their ass all over the place.
Since spring 2020 the shortages have been getting worse. I have been sourcing all our replacement parts as most dealers could not get enough spare parts. I sourced the air filter for our F53 Chassis RV but they found tires through an alternate supply chain. etc.
Gave up, left Canada. In Mexico — may come back in a few months.
Warm and sunny here in Puerto Vallarta
Crackerbarrels throughout Ohio have no catfish.
No fish in a barrel.
Well, that sucks. Gets any worse people will be fighting over the carp in the ponds.
Back in June, Tenaquip had an online special on a King metal lathe (manufactured in Taiwan) with free delivery. I entered the address for my location in Manitoba and the order was accepted. Three weeks went by without a word so I phoned the head office in Quebec and they told me my lathe should arrive the following week.
The next week I got an email that they had cancelled my order due to “unforseen circumstances”. I was advised that I could re-order if I wanted to. I sent an email back asking if they would honor the previous price, and was told that it was no longer possible.
A salesman from a local machine tool supplier stopped by in July with a flyer offering the same lathe on sale at an even better price. I told him I would take one provided he confirmed with the supplier. He did so and I put a deposit on the unit. Delivery was slated for mid-October.
Yesterday he came by to tell me that delivery has now been pushed back until February 2022. My lathe is sitting on a ship in the St. Lawrence Seaway. I told him I would still take delivery so we’ll see if I have a lathe by then. It’s a good thing I don’t need to earn a living with that lathe.
North central Saskatchewan, Michelin AGRI bib tire ordered in March from local shop, doesn’t show up and no time line as to when it will. Managed to find a couple used ones last month. Any new auto steer gps parts are hard to come by and the used is going for double what I paid 10 years ago for certain controllers
PETA will quickly put an end to that. Draft people, however, would not be objectionable.
Calgary AB. Recurring heavy hail storms caused major damage to housing in numerous neighbourhoods of the city. Siding, windows, roofing, etc, repairs all on hold for months owing to supply shortages. Plastic/vinyl exterior products are a liability in this city.
No Kidding Harry…
Have friends who just now are having their siding and windows replaced:
SkyView, Calgary, Alberta…what 6-8 months later.??
Took my GM car in for servicing this week in Burlington, Ontario. There wasn’t a single car in the show room and the lot was half empty.
Tried to buy a small resin shed last month at Home Hardware in London, Ontario. They didn’t have any and had no idea when they were coming in. The store clerk said there was a shortage of all plastic materials and rubber.
Costco bacon 4 pack was $16.99 earlier this year, is now $24.99
Bonding drills which used to have a 2-3 month lead time are now up to 8 months and counting
Yup we buy Costco bacon all the time and cant believe the price jump. My socialist daughter blamed greedy CEOs. My husband asked her: who’s the CEO of “bacon”? She actually stopped, thought about his question and chuckled. Maybe theres hope.
Also in Superstore, a single sirloin steak was $24?!
Yup.
Before I drive to my house in B. C., I cook some steaks and cut them up so that I have something to eat while on the road. I generally buy a cheaper cut at Safeway here in Edmonton, partly because, like you observed, something like sirloin costs more than I’m willing to pay.
By comparison, steak is way above my budget in Fort St. John. The better cuts are roughly the same in price as they are in Edmonton. I haven’t found anything like the cheaper Safeway stuff at the Save-On Food I go to in town.
So, before I go back home, I buy some pork and do the same thing as I do in Edmonton. It’s a bit more than what I paid for the beef, but I get roughly the same amount.
I find it faR far cheaper to buy a small cooked “ham”… or whats known in the industry as a Smoked pork picknick, for ~ $12-13 CAD than fat laden 350 gram “POUNDS” at 7.99 per.
Screw bacon…its beyond a rip off. Costco or anywhere else.
We shop at WalMart and local Italian store for fresh product.
$$$ talks and BS walks.
Can buy Pot of all varieties at 4 stores within a 5 minute walk. There is now 250 of em within the city I live in, Moronto. Too bad it doesn’t supress hunger.
Lots of new weed stores in Trawna. Since the Gubmint killed small business during the pandemic (WalMart can stay open: You must close) , no one else can afford to pick up the leases on all that vacant retail space, so Pot Stores are popping up like mushrooms after a rain.
6uild 6ack 6etter …
Well … at least you’re somewhat sure it isn’t laced with Fentanyl at the retail Pot shops
The local Dopeaneur, an illegal weed store (which has been shut down by the police dozens of times only to reopen a few days later – now the cops just ignore them) operating right next door to a legal one, always has better weed (fresh and moist, not dried out to dust), at better prices (as much as 50% lower), with a broader selection and no GST. Just saying. There are also dozens of illegal weed delivery services (One is aptly named “Doober”) in the GTA, again with better quality, broader selection and much lower prices than the Gubmint stores. Only a government could lose money selling weed. Remember how legalizing weed was going to put the black market out of business? Well, it hasn’t.
Bought a bunch of furniture in August. Couch and bed might arrive by March next year.
Calgary, AB
I added to this below. Fellow Calgarian. 2 bed frames took 1 month and 4 months respectively. Mattresses (from another supplier) were next day.
On the flip side I talked to someone the other day who said the brand new ford pickup truck he ordered was coming in a week. We were both quite surprised. He said he had gotten lucky, that by fluke he had ordered the exact trim package and specs on one of the only factory runs to be completed.
Last June I noticed a tire on my RV was done. I took it in and got a new one. My guy warned me he was having a very hard time getting tires for tractors and it was interfering with getting them into the fields for planting. He said if I need any more tires for anything, order them now. I was figuring on getting new tires for my truck October. (I drive on Nokian all year tires with the mountain snowflake from Finland on my F150.) The ones I had were good enough to last until then. Based on his advice I decided to do it in June. I had to wait three weeks and he had to source from three different warehouses to get all four of them. With my permission he used my old ones to get a piece of farm equipment jury rigged so all 18 tires required were on it. We’re at war. It’s undeclared, but it’s war.
Sorry but not short of anything here in rural Sask .Just bought some tires,just shot some chickens (prairie chicken) or sharp tail grouse as the educated call them.Neighbour just shot a moose and whitetail opens shortly so can’t say meat is a problem either. Will be ice fishing in a couple of weeks. Can buy a truck load of vegetables close by and grew a pile and all the neighbours share what they grow.I don’t know anyone that has Covid so forgive me for not whining and bitching like most on here
Wait until your truck breaks down…