Supply-Chain Snarls and Labor Shortages Are Holding Back Fiestaware

Fiestaware is cool again, and demand has surged for ‘Made in the USA’ products, but labor shortages have hurt production By Ruth Simon and Dave Cole Updated Nov. 30, 2021 Tap story

U.S.-based production has been a plus for the Fiesta Tableware Co., a 150-year-old maker of Art Deco glazed dinnerware, amid global supply-chain snags. But like other companies, it has also encountered labor, materials and transportation challenges.

This browser does not support the video element. “We are in a great situation for our company, but we can’t fill our orders because we need workers,” said Fiesta President Elizabeth McIlvain, a fourth-generation owner.

Founded in 1871, Fiesta is based in Newell, W.Va., on the banks of the Ohio River. The company was known as the Homer Laughlin China Co. until March 2020, when it sold off its restaurant and hotel dinnerware business.

The 37-acre factory produces more than 100 items for its Fiesta line, in bright colors ranging from daffodil and scarlet to turquoise. New items, such as a $25 dinner bowl plate and a $22 luncheon bowl plate, have been big sellers.

Making a single piece of dinnerware involves at least eight steps. Fiesta has automated some processes to keep costs down, but making cups, vases, pitchers and many other items remains labor-intensive.

This browser does not support the video element. Fiesta has nearly 500 employees. At least 150 workers decided not to return when the factory reopened after nonessential businesses were forced to close due to Covid-19. The company has filled some openings but is still looking for 50 more staffers.

Profit margins are higher on foreign-made dinnerware, but retailers “are having a hard time receiving the product they ordered,” said Fiesta's Ms. McIlvain. “They are trying to enhance their departments with our product because they can get it.”

Attaching handles to cups “is a very skilled job,” said Robin Rice, who shifted to making tableware after Fiesta sold its hotel and restaurant unit, where she worked for 35 years. “You have to make them straight. You have to make sure they stick.”

Skilled positions, starting at $15 an hour with benefits, are hardest to fill. Staffers in those roles include dippers, who spray ceramic pieces with glaze, and machinery operators such as Aaron Cunningham, who makes cups and bowls.

It typically takes three months for new hires to master a skilled role. Pottery produced by trainees often ends up for sale as seconds in the company store or as breakables.

“For the area around here, it’s decent pay,” said Jesse Rahe, a press hand who has worked at Fiesta 11 years. He says new hires often don’t stay long. “People come in then quit. They don’t show up at all. I don’t know why people don’t want to work.”

Roughly 25% of Fiesta’s orders shipped late this October due to staffing shortages and difficulties obtaining corrugation for packaging.

Fiesta has come within hours of shutting down production at least twice because of delays in shipments of domestic clay. It doubled orders for red and orange pigments from China as delivery times stretched to nearly six months.

Domestic shipping is another challenge. During October’s peak, as much as $750,000 in dinnerware would be waiting for pickup when the week ended. Fiesta tries to bundle orders from smaller customers because truckers want to carry full loads.

Online sales have more than doubled in the last 18 months. Fiesta has added two major accounts and more than 40 smaller retailers this year. Over the summer, the company put a pause on adding new accounts until early 2022.

Fiesta will soon gear up to produce its newest color, to be announced in January. “It has been an exceptional year,” said Richard Brinkman, vice president of sales and marketing. “It could have been far better if we had the labor, had the materials."

Photographs and video by Kristian Thacker Produced by Dave Cole