It's getting better, but there was a period last winter when there seemed to be a real North American filament shortage, including you guys.  It seems like there were maybe one or two manufacturers in the US that everyone used, that ran filament in batches, and everyone ran out of stock before their next batch.  Chinese quality can be hit or miss, but at least they are there to fill in the gaps now.

Believe me, we know all about this. We would love to see more start up filament producers.

I like the idea of walking in to buy filament when I run out right before a 3 day weekend.   It usually goes like this-

"That spool's getting low, I should order more"

"I need to order that, I can almost see the bottom of the spool"

"It ran out, nothing can get delivered until next Tuesday because of the holiday"

or

"Nobody has the color I want in stock other than 5lb spools"

The filament producing industry seems vulnerable to stock-outs. We are happy that we have a good supply at the shop.

"That spool's getting low, I should order more"

"I need to order that, I can almost see the bottom of the spool"

"It ran out, nothing can get delivered until next Tuesday because of the holiday"

or

"Nobody has the color I want in stock other than 5lb spools"

http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/24/deez … -pasadena/