See it and Sell it First at ASI Show Orlando – January 4-6, 2025.   Register Now.

News October 07, 2024

Promo Firms Announce Closures as Hurricane Milton Closes In

Counselor Top 40 suppliers were among those planning to shut down for a time the week of Oct. 6 as the massive hurricane was on track for a Florida landfall.

By  Christopher Ruvo

Less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated parts of several Southeastern states, another massive storm is bearing down on the region, again disrupting the operations of promotional products companies and impacting the lives of industry pros who live in the area.

Hurricane Milton, which had rapidly intensified into a Category 5 storm with sustained winds above 157 mph as of early afternoon Monday, Oct. 7, was predicted to strike Florida’s Gulf Coast midweek. Forecasters believed the storm would weaken some before making landfall, but asserted that deluging rains, destructive winds and catastrophic storm surge were all likely for parts of Florida’s western coast.

“Milton will be a historic storm for the west coast of Florida,” the National Weather Service in Tampa Bay said in a briefing Monday morning.

On Monday, a hurricane watch was in effect along much of the western Gulf Coast of Florida, from Chokoloskee northward to the mouth of the Suwannee River – a stretch that includes Tampa Bay.

The “watch” means hurricane conditions – sustained winds above 74 mph – are possible within the zones, roughly within the next 48 hours. Mandatory evacuations for certain areas, including all of Fort Myers Beach, were underway Monday.

“We are preparing ... for the largest evacuation that we have seen, most likely since 2017, Hurricane Irma,” said Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

Given the ominous forecast, promo industry companies were already announcing closures.

iDex International (asi/62138), a supplier and contract decorator based in Tampa, shared Monday that it planned to be closed at least from Tuesday, Oct. 8, through Thursday, Oct. 10.

Naples, FL-based supplier Auto Tran (asi/12555) said it will be closed until it’s safe to return to the office. “We anticipate that being Friday, Oct. 11, but will be monitoring our emails and the storm as it continues,” the company said in a statement. “Please be patient with reply emails, as the power and internet may be unreliable.”

Counselor Top 40 supplier Hit Promotional Products (asi/61125), which temporarily closed during the final week of September due to impacts from Hurricane Helene, was planning to keep business moving through Tuesday, though with limited operations.

“Carrier services may be affected, and outbound shipments are subject to suspension,” the company said in a statement.

Largo, FL-based Hit intended to be closed at least Wednesday. Even while Hit is open, CEO CJ Schmidt, a member of Counselor’s Power 50 list of promo’s most influential people, told ASI Media that he was expecting limited staff because of school closures and mandatory evacuations.

Milton’s arrival is especially poor timing in the wake of last week’s three-day port strike along the East and Gulf Coasts, cargo backups from which will take at least a few weeks to clear, Schmidt said.

“The Tampa port, which is where most of our goods come in, will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday, which doesn’t help after the strike last week,” Schmidt said.

Counselor Top 40 supplier Koozie Group (asi/40480) said its Clearwater, FL facilities will be opened with limited operations on Tuesday, Oct. 8 and closed Wednesday, Oct. 9.

The company said it worked over the weekend in anticipation of the storm to minimize disruption to distributors, but closing is a necessity in the face of mandatory evacuation notices, carrier disruptions and the gravity of the storm.

“The well-being of our employees is always our number one priority, and we will reopen when it is safe to do so,” said Matt Cook, chief operating officer of Koozie Group.

Koozie Group’s support teams, including customer service, will operate remotely and be available to assist distributors. “Our Minnesota and Missouri facilities remain open and unimpacted, continuing to produce calendars, Sticky Note products, chairs, blankets and bags,” said Cook.

Disruption, however, is possible when it comes to pens and most drinkware, which Koozie Group produces in Clearwater. The supplier said it will inform customers about impacted orders. Distributors can find the most up-to-date order information by logging in to their kooziegroup.com account or via the Koozie Group Tracker, Cook said.