Challenges during Covid

March 16, 2022

I can remember the good old days when it only took us 5 minutes to check with our vendors in order to find blank apparel. These days it might take up to 2 hours to try to locate an item and then five minutes later, it’s gone again. This is just one of the many challenges brought on by the distribution crisis that is facing our nation. The Cape Girardeau digital t-shirt printing industry is not the only ones that are experiencing such challenges as it seems to be pretty much across-the-board affecting every sector of business throughout our economy. These items are sitting outside our ports in cargo ships, unable to be unloaded in a timely manner.

Another challenge that the Cape Girardeau screen printing and embroidery industry is facing is trying to find enough help. There is nothing more frustrating that I can remember in all the years I’ve been in business, then having a Cape Girardeau t-shirt printing customer, who’s ready to order and we can’t find the blank product in order to fulfill the order. To top it off, even if we can find it, we sometimes don’t have enough employees to process the order in a timely manner. It’s not just us as we’re in good company. It very much saddens me, to see mom and pop businesses such as restaurants, that have been establish for more than 30 years, being forced to close their doors because of lack of help. I can remember a couple years ago when Covid first reared its ugly head and so many businesses and events were canceling and shutting down. So much of the clientele we cater to have events like golf tournaments and fundraisers, such as walks and runs. Most of these were canceled in an effort to try and slow down this virus. My particular custom screen printing company was able to somehow weather that storm, and when we thought we might have turned the corner, we have a whole new set of challenges.