Seattle Decorators and Loyal Sanmar Customers
As we get ready to close the books on another year and celebrate Thanksgiving with our families and friends, I am reflecting on the year behind us while looking forward to what lies ahead.
We began this year with severely depleted inventories, and today we are overflowing. Booming sales marked the beginning of the year, and these last months are spent preparing for challenging times ahead. As always, we are beyond thankful for your support.
I am incredibly proud of our team at the Seattle SanMar headquarters for rebuilding our inventory over the last year. I’ve recently signed leases on nearly two million square feet of additional distribution space to store the inventory we’ve built and what we know is on the way. We need the extra capacity, which tells me that SanMar is returning to keeping our promise of deep inventory to you, our customers.
As we look ahead to next year, we are cautiously optimistic and aware of the economic headwinds and their effect on our industry and business.
Inventory is Replenishing in 2023
We are optimistic because our industry has proven its resilience before and because we don’t believe a slowdown will be as deep or impactful as the one we saw in 2009. When I talk to customers lately, everyone is busy and working hard. While my faith in our industry is strong, my confidence in the Federal Reserve and our decision-makers in Washington is less certain. With this in mind, there are things we can all do to prepare for the new year.
- Plan for different scenarios and how they could affect your business. Examine what a down scenario looks like and plan your cash needs accordingly.
- Be prudent, but do not overreact. Pushing the panic button will make a severe downturn a self-fulfilling prophecy. Refocus instead on how you can run your business as efficiently as possible.
- Make sure your customer base is diversified by industry. If not, then it’s time to be out there selling to different types of customers than you usually work with.
- Read Colin Powell’s 13 Rules of Leadership. I find them powerful, especially the last one: “Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.”
If your Thanksgiving is anything like mine, you’ll soon be overindulging in turkey, maybe drinking too much wine and taking a minute to be thankful. I can skip the first two for now and tell you that I am thankful for my family, my health, and each of you.
From all of us at SanMar, our most sincere thanks and best wishes for a wonderful holiday and a happy new year. I appreciate your business and your partnership.
In friendship,
Jeremy Lott
