But supply chain issues and poor communication from retailers only compounded shoppers’ stress as they were now forced to agonize over a ninth-month delay of a necessary order that cost them thousands of dollars.Īnd no retailer was worse at this than West Elm. While facing the uncertainty and fear of a pandemic alongside other significant life transitions and even traumas, many people I spoke to merely wanted the comfort of a fresh sofa, a new mattress, or a much-needed refrigerator. These problems have left shoppers frustrated and, in some cases, bereft. Shipping companies and ports grapple with similar obstacles, and prices of pallets and shipping containers are through the roof. Supply chains have stalled as factories enforce social distancing and struggle with sick workers. The issue is complex, fueled by a sudden and unexpected influx of home goods orders as people were confined to their homes with nothing to do but sit for hours on uncomfortable sofas and stare at blank walls in desperate need of adornment.

The pandemic has worsened this issue, not only for West Elm but for a legion of furniture retailers. Three years after I wrote my original West Elm story, in which I revealed the company was enraging countless young shoppers by seemingly refusing to deliver anything in a timely manner, the situation does not seem to be much better. “It’s been an existential nightmare, as confounding as Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot”

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