Instead of ordering on spec for the holidays and taking orders from distributors closer to when products arrive from manufacturers, Stonemaier is asking distributors to place holiday orders six months in advance. "In these coronavirus times, I can't risk hundreds of thousands of dollars on blind estimates for the holiday season…," Stegmaier wrote. "There are a few distributors who are running behind on payments, so they won’t be able to participate."
Fulfillment from the company's distribution centers in St. Louis, Canada, the UK, and Australia has also been impacted, with all of them following social distancing guidelines, which is lowering their capacity for daily shipments despite working in shifts, Stegmaier explained. The reduced capacity will have the biggest impact when reprints of Wingspan and Scythe arrive.
