UPDATE 6 a.m. Eastern Oct. 9, 2024
This article was updated to include information on additional company closures and more recent information on the storm.
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.
Early this week, Hurricane Milton rapidly intensified, becoming a Category 5 storm with sustained winds above 157. It remained so early Wednesday, Oct. 9, and was predicted to strike Florida’s Gulf Coast overnight into early Thursday. Forecasters believe the storm will weaken some before making landfall, but asserted that the hurricane will remain a Category 3 or above, bringing flood-causing rains, destructive winds and catastrophic storm surge, particularly to 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 Wednesday, much of central Florida from the westside Gulf to the eastside Atlantic was under hurricane warnings. The area includes Tampa Bay, Fort Myers, Orlando, Cape Canaveral and Daytona. The “warning” meant hurricane-force winds – those sustained at 74 mph or above – are expected to rip through overnight.
Forecasters also issued tropical storm watches and warnings for other parts of Florida, southeast Georgia, southeast South Carolina and southern North Carolina. They applied a storm surge warning on Florida’s Gulf Coast; the warning runs from Flamingo north to the Suwanee River, an area that includes Tampa Bay.
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,” Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said earlier this week.
Given the ominous forecast, promo industry companies were 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.
Elsewhere, IDProductsource (asi/62088), based in Port Saint Lucie, FL, is shifting to remote operations for the safety and well-being of its staff on Wednesday, October 9th and Thursday, October 10th.
“We prioritize the health and safety of our team and are committed to maintaining our services during this time,” the company said in a statement. “We want to assure our clients that orders will continue to be processed as usual. Our team remains available to respond to emails and website chats as conditions permit.”
BEL Promo (asi/39552), based in Medley, FL, was closing its warehouse on Wednesday. “We plan to resume normal operations on Thursday, but we will keep you informed if there are any changes,” Michelle DeMayo, a strategic sales manager shared. “Additionally, we will be working on Saturday to make up for Wednesday’s closure.”
