At Square Market, a home décor store in Lebanon, owner Paula McDonnell is set up and ready for Christmas shoppers, despite some nervousness about shipping delays just a few weeks ago and after a year or more of assorted issues.

“My entire storeroom is full, from top to bottom,” she explains.

Home décor and gifts for the home are on many wish lists this holiday season. Sprucing up, remodeling and giving gifts for the house are expected to be top purchases this season, even with supply chain and worker shortages.

And some newcomers to the Nashville area are reloading instead of remodeling, having sold their home and contents to start over in Middle Tennessee, perhaps working with one of the many companies building or relocating here.

A backlog of orders have piled up in the storeroom at Market Square during the past few weeks – faster now than in recent months and just in time for holidays shoppers. In fact, McDonnell has received everything she was planning on getting before Christmas. What is in the store now is all she expects to come in through the end of the year.

Home decor items such as candles, paintings, throw pillows, lamps, furniture and more can be found at Daphne Home in Nashville and are expected to be big sellers this holiday season.

-- Photos By Michelle Morrow |The Ledger

Of course, she planned very far ahead to be sure she wasn’t facing empty shelves this season.

“We ordered Christmas in January, and if we don’t have it in the store by September all back orders are canceled,” she says.

But even before the holidays were top of mind, McDonnell was unable to keep pillows, lamps or sofas in stock. They were gone as soon as they were out of the box and on the floor.

“While we were at home, we realized what we needed, and that was the catalyst to get people going,” she says of the COVID lockdown. “And now we have people come in for Christmas who want to get the spare bedroom done. Or the home office. I have quite a few customers who are now at home to work, and they have to have everything. So business is really big in home décor, from sofas to chandeliers.”

Products for the home like these at Daphne Home in the L&L Market are drawing crowds.

-- Photos By Michelle Morrow |The Ledger

Upholstered custom pieces are at least six months out, she says, so she began ordering new pieces each month to try and keep up, giving her an advantage of just selling what she can off the floor.

“Everybody who wants a custom piece of furniture, they already know that it’s not a quick turnaround,” she adds. “But really, custom has come to a halt because people want to sit on it now, and they don’t want to wait six months.

“But other than that, they’re pretty understanding.”

“Consumers should approach this year differently than in past normal holiday seasons,” says Chris Craighead, a professor in supply chain management with the University of Tennessee’s Haslam College of Business and an expert on supply chain disruptions.

Doug Peeples, right, with owners and brothers Ray and Rick Myers of Myers Flooring, which is in its 64th year of business.

-- Photo By Reeves Smith For Nashville Interiors

“This is very much a supply chain issue because the underlying problem is that the capacity to deliver the mass of packages and products has been limited by several factors, such as shortages in labor and transportation assets like trucks and trailers.

“This limited capacity, in turn, may cause slower package movement and potential delays.”

Doug Peebles, Myers Flooring Nashville manager, says his company does all of its fabrication on custom-cut rugs right in their combination showroom and warehouse on Sidco Drive in Nashville, and their stock is at an all-time high.

The biggest problem right now is the workload, he says.

“We’ve just been overwhelmed with orders,” says Peeples, with jobs running four to six weeks on a rug cut to size from material already in their inventory. If the material needs to be ordered, Peeples says all bets are off with another two to six weeks added to the delivery estimate.

That being said, it’s too late to get rug cut-to-order in time for Thanksgiving, he says, adding Christmas is still a possibility, but only maybe.

Still, Peeples says whether a material is in stock will not affect what most people decide to buy for a home project because they want to love it, and they are willing to wait – to a point.

“People who want what they want, still want what they want, and they’re willing to wait,” Peeples adds. “We’ve got a backlog of open orders right now, greater than we’ve ever had. And now we also have the largest inventory we’ve ever had.”

Business at Myers slowed down for just the first two months of the pandemic, but by May 2020, Peeples says it was instantly busier than ever.

“It was almost like somebody turned the faucet wide open and it hasn’t stopped since,” he adds.

People have not changed their shopping habits in terms of colors or textures or style. But what has changed in the past year is their understanding of what it takes to logistically get products in stores.

“They are understanding the time that it takes,” Peeples says. “So many other businesses that are experiencing delays, whether it’s an automobile or appliances or whatever it is, people have come to us already with a pre-knowledge that delays are affecting all of us.”

Peeples and McDonnell are both experiencing an influx of brand-new-to-Nashville customers, which is also increasing demand for home products.

“It is all new people,” McDonnell says. “People have sold their homes with everything in it. And at least once every two weeks I have a new customer who needs every piece of furniture.”

And designers are moving here too, also increasing demand for home products.

“We’re excited about the future,” Peeples notes. “We’re excited about the present. We’re excited where we are. My biggest challenge going forward is right now, today, I could hire two sales people. But I really need people that are seasoned and ready to hit the ground.”

He is also struggling with finding qualified installers as skilled labor is also strained and causing delays in the home industry, from hand-painters to cabinet makers.

And with shipping issues predicted to extend into the new year, it is definitely not the time to sit and wait for something you love to go on sale before you buy it because it probably isn’t going to happen like that for a while.

“If you see it and you want it, pay what they’re asking because the next time that product comes in, it’s going to be double the price,” McDonnell says. “The only upset customers I ever get are the ones who come back to get something and it’s gone.”