Minnesota retail experts: No need for panic buying yet because of U.S. port strike

Unionized dockworkers went on strike this week, shutting down ports on the East and Gulf coasts and raising questions about possible supply chain issues in Minnesota and elsewhere. However, according to Minnesota Retailers Association President Bruce Nustad, it wasn’t yet time for consumers to hit the panic button and stock up on toilet paper and staple food items.

“We wouldn’t recommend accelerating any purchasing at this point,” Nustad said Thursday. “I think retailers will be in pretty good shape for the holiday season, which is what most consumers are starting to think about right now past October. So no, I don’t see the shortages of items really through the holiday season.”

Late Wednesday, the union representing the 45,000 striking dockworkers reached a deal to suspend their strike until Jan. 15 to provide time to negotiate a new contract, a person briefed on the matter told the Associated Press. The workers are demanding better pay and have voiced concerns over automation taking over their jobs.

While the strike is indefinitely preventing the shipping of goods from coastal ports, Nustad has noticed Minnesota retailers speeding up their deliveries in recent weeks for the holiday season and said that many businesses anticipated the strike. Retailers have become more skilled at avoiding supply chain issues since facing challenges at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he said.

For those reasons, Nustad said he’s not worrying about supply chain disruptions through the holidays. But if the strike goes on for months, he said, consumers could begin to see shortages on store shelves.

“You could see some impacts into the middle part of 2025 when retailers go to refresh their inventories for the spring season next year,” Nustad said. “So that’s what we kind of have our eye on right now.”

Susan Meyer-Goldstein, an associate professor of supply chain and operations at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, echoed Nustad. “I don’t think there’s any reason to panic at this point,” she said.

Like Nustad, she said retailers learned to adapt and better avoid supply disruptions since the pandemic. That includes having products shipped in from multiple ports and regions; for instance, Minnesota business may order more products from areas such as the West Coast, where dockworkers aren’t on strike.

The strike is expected to affect retailers the same way regardless of their size, Nustad said. In some cases, small businesses will work with their own distribution companies, he said.

“I think they’re working closely with their distributors, who seem to have a lot of product especially for the holiday season already in hand,” he said.

The port strike will have an obvious impact on products that can’t be shipped in advance, like fruits and vegetables. Nustad said his association is keeping an eye on potential supply issues with produce, but said he’s unconcerned at this point about non-perishables.