TRENTON — Consumers everywhere are feeling the consequences from a disrupted global supply chain, as evidenced by depleted grocery store shelves and bare car dealership lots.

The disruptions can be attributed to several factors, including factory lockdowns during the pandemic that limited manufacturing and subsequent surges in demand for certain goods, such as outdoor equipment and construction supplies.

Shortages in shipping containers and truck drivers to transport goods and ships off the West Coast waiting to unload their cargo have also contributed to the problem, according to an Oct. 14 report in the Los Angeles Times.

The consequences are being felt by local business owners, who have struggled to keep up with inventory for months.

However, others, such as businesses and grocery store departments with goods sourced primarily from the U.S., say they have largely been spared by the supply chain issues as the holiday shopping season approaches.

Putt Patten, owner of Ellsworth Chainsaw Sales & Service, noticed this recent breakdown in the supply chain in May, when warehouses became largely cleared out.

Passers-by of the business on Route 3 in Trenton have likely seen the sign out front that reads “Pray to the inventory gods.”

As indicated by the sign, stocking inventory has been a challenge for Patten.

The business has been able to receive parts and accessories, but whole goods, such as lawnmowers, chainsaws and leaf blowers, have remained difficult to stock.

“We order and we have no idea when we’re gonna get them,” Patten told The American. He added that his vendors can’t even give delivery dates.

In the thick of leaf blowing season, Patten just started to receive leaf blowers a couple weeks ago. He ordered them in August.

The store hasn’t had push mowers in stock since June.

Once inventory does make its way to the shelves (which Patten noted are one-third less full than typical years), it is already spoken for by customers who have put their names on a list.

Additionally, Patten said his industry has experienced a 10 percent increase in inflation.

While products from vendors such as Stihl, a major supplier to Ellsworth Chainsaw, are largely manufactured in the U.S., production is so globally connected that many goods still require pieces and raw materials from other countries, Patten explained.

“It’s a global world and the supply chain is broken,” Patten said.

With the official start to the holiday shopping season just a few weeks away, is the business owner worried about having inventory for gift-buyers?

“Yes and no,” Patten said. With the holiday season around the corner, Patten plans to “take it as it comes.”

Next door to his business, Patten’s wife, Pam, has had the same struggles with stocking her gift shop, Country Keepsakes.

But when shelves are stocked, customers make purchases.

“They didn’t ask the price, they just bought it,” Patten said.

He noted that many industries have had banner years amid the pandemic — even with limited inventory.

For Poppy and Polka Dot Boutique on Main Street in Ellsworth, storeowner Amanda Beals has shifted to sourcing from vendors that primarily make their goods exclusively in the U.S, including Maine vendors.

“We actually haven’t had an issue” with the supply chain, Beals reported.

She buys daily to stock the store.

“That helps me keep a pulse” on what is needed for inventory, Beals said.

Beals buys directly from the vendors who supply her store. When customers buy from Poppy and Polka Dot, “that’s supporting two families,” the business owner and the vendor, she said.

With experts advising shoppers to start their buying and ordering now due to global interruptions, consumers who shop small may avoid some of those headaches.

At Poppy and Polka Dot, the business’s shipping department, which has had room to expand since the store moved to its bigger space in April, continues to ship orders five days a week to customers all over the country, Beals reported.

Tradewinds Marketplace in Blue Hill is having a similar experience with its local product compared to its items more intricately woven into the global supply chain.

“A lot of our specialty, local products are doing well in terms of supply,” said General Manager Josh Theriault. Some of those local suppliers have still had to make adjustments due to the global disruptions.

“A lot of those small companies have had to improvise in terms of packaging,” Theriault said.

Packaging has been an ongoing source of issues amid the pandemic, Theriault reported, with aluminum canning in short supply at one point.

Currently, the shortage is with glass. Theriault noted that a brand of yogurt the store carries that is typically packaged in glass Mason jars has had to switch to plastic containers.

Even with the changes, Theriault suspects that local vendors may be faring better with supply chain shortages than companies that rely on global markets.

“Most of them are doing better than others,” he said.

Request your password here. Or contact our help desk at (207) 667-2576 during normal business hours or send us an email.

Advertise your business here. Call Kelley Wescott at (207) 667-2576 or send an email .