Why Did Costco Stop Selling Tennis Balls?
Without any prior notice, Costco, the giant wholesale retailer, was no longer selling tennis balls. The tennis ball racks in the sporting division of the store were empty and remained so for several months. Many started to wonder:
Why did Costco stop selling tennis balls?
*Costco is currently selling tennis balls again. The Covid-19 pandemic caused an increase in demand for tennis balls while supply chains were slowed, and in some cases completely halted, due to the pandemic. This resulted in a high demand versus a low supply.
Covid-19 causes a tennis craze
The Covid-19 pandemic started at the end of 2019 and the US first closed its borders to Canada for non-essential travel in March 2020. Along with the border closures came a series of restrictions imposed upon residents in the US, including social distancing, which advised against close contact between people, as well as imploring citizens to avoid crowded areas, and using no-contact greetings, among other things.
According to ESP.com the virus did not deter people from participating in tennis. If anything, the game saw a massive rise of 22% in recreational participation during 2020, in the United States.
The article goes on to explain that Mike Dowse, the U.S. Tennis Association CEO, attributed the rise in popularity to the fact that tennis was the ideal social distancing sport. A survey conducted, revealed that there were approximately 21.5 million people who started to play tennis during this period. This accounted for a 44% increase in players from the previous year in 2019.
Furthermore, according to the United States Tennis Association (USTA) a total of 22.6 million new tennis players joined the sport in 2021. The association also reported a surge in equipmet sales that resulted in a year-on-year increase in participation in the sport and sales, with a total of 3.4 million racquets sold in 2021. This was the highest recorded sales since 2010.
Of course, with the rise in tennis players and an increase in demand for tennis equipment, this would undoubtedly cause an increase in demand for tennis balls.
A shortage of tennis ball supplies
Of course, the pandemic did more than just cause the popularity of the sport to rise dramatically, it resulted in a shortage of tennis balls. However, it was more than just the pandemic that played a role in the tennis ball shortage. Tariff price wars played a big role in the shortage as well, along with manufacturing protocols.
Manufacturing protocols
Two of the main tennis ball suppliers in Northern America are Penn and Wilson. Wilson was bought out by a Chinese company. However, Head, the owner of Penn Tennis Balls, manufactures its tennis balls in China, while Wilson manufactures its tennis balls in Thailand.
Many east Asian manufacturers closed down business as they were hit hard by the pandemic, while others reduced staff availability and, in turn, production, to manage finances during the hard-hit months of the pandemic. Furthermore, global supply chains were hit hard due to bottlenecks caused by closure of ports due to outbreaks, and a shortage of shipping containers.
China had, prior to the pandemic and during the pandemic, started to outsource most of its manufacturing to east Asian countries while it started to focus more on sales. In a bid to survive the pandemic, these manufacturing plants had to reduce, and in extreme cases terminate production.
Trade Tarif
Prior to the pandemic, around 2019 to be exact, President Donald Trump proposed a 25% tariff on the remaining $300 billion worth of imports from China, which included tennis balls.
Penn is the major producer and supplier of tennis balls in North America. They moved their manufacturing facilities to China due to the fact that it simply was not feasible to produce a product with such a low profit margin while paying Americans competitive salaries. It made business sense to move operations abroad. Consumers have zero loyalty to tennis ball brands and will jump ship for the smallest change in price.
A 25% tariff was going to destroy product sales. Neither the company nor the retailer would be able to cover the additional cost, which meant that it would have to be passed on to the consumer.
And that is exactly what happened. You only need to look at Reddit, to review comments about the price hike of tennis balls which resulted from the tariff. But prior to the rise in prices, the tariff war resulted in supply chain issues until some kind of resolve could be reached. And this, in turn, affected the supply of tennis balls to major sporting stores and wholesalers.
Port delays and supply chain issues
As previously stated, many of the tennis balls used in the US are produced in east Asian countries, including China. The shipping containers create a bottleneck at the west coast ports as many of the ports are understaffed due to the pandemic, and many of the containers are subjected to inspections.
This in turn hinders the supply of tennis balls to sporting stores and other wholesale retailers like Costco. Again, one just needs to look at Reddit to realize that there was a major shortage of tennis balls at many of the Costco stores countrywide.
However, there have been reports recently that Costco is stocking tennis balls. More specifically, the Penn brand. I went on to their website and found Penn balls for sale. The price, however, is somewhat higher than it was two years ago. And, while many factors may come into play regarding the rise in prices, it’s clear that the pandemic, the tariff war, and supply chain issues play a significant role in this.
This indicates that there has been some relief in the supply chain issues. Keep in mind, though, that not all stores are stocked up on Costco tennis balls. You will need to check with your local store to ensure that they have stock. My advice would be to stock up as much as you can because supplies are unpredictable and even Wimbledon is feeling the pinch.
You can also read:
- 7 Best Tennis Balls For Beginners
- What Are Tennis Balls Made of?
- 7 Things You Can Do With Old Tennis Balls
- What Are Pressureless Tennis Balls?
Sad: Wilson is owned by a Chinese company and Penn tennis balls are made in China.