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News September 25, 2024

Promo Companies Brace for Hurricane Helene

Prep was underway and temporary closures were being announced in advance of the forecasted Category 3 storm.

By  Christopher Ruvo

Hurricane Helene has Florida and southeastern U.S. states in its sights, and promotional products firms there are taking action in advance of what’s predicted to be a major storm.

Counselor Top 40 supplier Koozie Group (asi/40480), for instance, announced that it’s closing its Clearwater, FL, facilities on the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 25. The aim is to reopen the evening of Thursday, Sept. 26, if it’s safe to do so. Koozie Group noted that shipping carriers have suspended service temporarily and that mandatory evacuation notices have been issued by county officials.

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“Our support teams, including customer service, continue to operate remotely during this time and are available to help with your questions,” the company said in a statement. “Our Minnesota and Missouri facilities remain open and are operating as usual; items produced there, including calendars, Sticky Note products, chairs, blankets and bags, are not impacted.”

Elaborating, Koozie Group said that it’s suspending 24-hour service for certain products, including pens and most drinkware, that are produced and/or decorated in Clearwater.

The goal is to resume 24-hour service for such goods on Monday, Sept. 30. The firm said it will inform distributors about any orders that may be impacted. Customers can find the most up-to-date order information by logging in to their kooziegroup.com account or via the Koozie Group Tracker.

“We’ll continue to keep customers updated as the situation unfolds, and we appreciate their understanding as we work to keep our employees safe,” Koozie Group said in a statement, adding: “We expect the impact to our customers to be minimal, as we’ve worked ahead this week in our Florida facilities in anticipation of needing to close.”

Meanwhile, Largo, FL-based Counselor Top 40 supplier Hit Promotional Products (asi/61125) said it has been preparing for the storm for several days, including physically prepping facilities as much as possible and working ahead “as much as we can to minimize/avoid delays that may be felt by our customers due to any closures,” Chief Operating Officer Doug Donnell told ASI Media.  

“As of right now we plan to be operating as usual on Thursday, although we do expect to have some impact to labor on Thursday due to school closures and any potential flooding/road closures that might make it unsafe for people to come to work,” said Donnell.

Forecasters are saying that Hurricane Helene could become a Category 3 hurricane when it makes a predicted landfall in Florida. Sustained plus 100 mph winds, deadly storm surge and deluging rains are predicted to be part of Helene, which has triggered warnings of extended power outages and the potential for extensive property damage.

“The time to evacuate is now,” Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said at a press conference with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Wednesday afternoon. “If you are ordered to evacuate, please do so. The time to put your disaster plan into action is now. Make those final plans, make sure you’ve got stuff for the kids, pets and seniors in your household.”