‘Lots of problems’ causing delays at Bend furniture and appliance stores

(Update: Adding video, comments from furniture and appliance store owners)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A foam shortage, along with a combination of other challenges, is causing a big backlog for furniture and appliance stores -- and their waiting customers.

Jeremy Wright, general manager at Bend Upstyle furniture store, says deliveries can now take months, instead of weeks.

"Lots of problems,” Wright said Wednesday. “It's not just the foam, it's a lot of things."

Wright said since the pandemic began, the wait time for furniture has only gone up.

"We were closed for two months at the start, and since then, we've been busier than ever,” Wright said. 

He said in a normal year, a typical wait would be a couple of weeks. However, he said lately, some customers have had to wait up to 10 months to get their furniture.

There are several factors for this extended wait period. 

The stop in production at the beginning of the pandemic put foam manufacturers behind.

Then, hurricanes near Louisiana and icy winter issues in Texas disrupted factories even more.

Add the current shortage of truck drivers, along with the increase in demand for furniture and other items, and wait times are at an all-time high.

Jim Chapel is a senior account manager at Johnson Brothers Appliances.

"Actually, right now it's as bad as it was during the height of the pandemic,” Chapel said. 

He said refrigerators use foam in the doors for insulation.

Chapel said some customers who ordered over a year ago still haven't received their fridge.

"It just makes it a little more challenging, trying to find a product that's available to customers, so we just have to look a little harder to try and find what will work for them,” Chapel said.

Chapel and Wright said customers were frustrated at first, but lately, people are understanding that long waits may be the new normal.

"So when we tell them, 'It's going to be three months, four months' -- people are willing to wait, because that's what they're getting everywhere,” Wright said. 

Wright hopes wait times can soon get back to the two- to three-week period it used to be.

"Man, I hope so,” Wright said. “Yeah I hope so. I imagine at some point it will correct itself."