Uniform Businesses Pick Up, Pitch in and Move On After Katrina

The pictures don’t do it justice.

They say that pictures can capture a moment in time with unequivocal clarity, but it the case of Hurricane Katrina, the storm that devastated most of the Gulf Coast last month, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Time and again, while interviewing some of the area’s uniform business owners for this article, we were told that the images being beamed into our homes each night depicting Katrina’s aftermath don’t begin to give the viewer a real sense of what it’s like to live and work in the region.

“I was here for Camille, and that storm can not hold a candle to this,” said Bill Clay, owner of Mid South Uniforms, a Jackson Mississippi retailer. “You just can’t really understand the utter destruction unless you see it, first hand.”

While the city of Jackson was not in the storm’s direct path, Mid South Uniforms nonetheless lost power for 2 days, but did not sustain any damage to its structure. Other uniform companies, however, were less fortunate.

Many of the companies that were in the affected region remain unreachable a month after the storm. Some, however, appear to be conducting business from other parts of the country. Tulane Shirts, a New Orleans supplier of school and career apparel, has redirected customer orders and inquiries to School Apparel in California.

“A lot of our customers are doing business from remote locations,” says Daystar Apparel’s Jeremy Hall . Daystar, a Jasper, GA, manufacturer of aprons, has 13 customers in the storm’s path. “We’ve been drop- shipping to other locations for some companies, but I still haven’t been able to reach others.”

In New Orleans, one of the hardest hit communities, Vinson’s Uniforms was more fortunate than most. “We are the only uniform dealer that survived in the area, and while we sustained some damage, it was minimal at best,” says Jimmy Vinson. Vinson’s, about 15 miles north of New Orleans, on the other side of Lake Ponchatrain, suffered damage from trees and wind that affected its roof, and also lost power in the immediate days after the storm. Because it had a generator, the store served as a refuge for company employees and their families. “Three of my ten employees lost their homes, lost everything they have, and we‘re desperately trying to get them help” notes Vinson.

While the store’s electricity and telephone lines were fully restored two week later, business is by no means back to normal. “My employees at times have to take off mid day to try to put their lives back together, to get help from some of the agencies down here, and in the meantime we have to keep the business going so that they’ll have a livelihood,” Vinson says. “This storm has taken its toll on everyone.”

It appears that big or small, no company was immune from Katrina’s wrath. Cintas, the nation ' s largest supplier of company uniforms, doesn ' t know when it will be able to reopen operations in New Orleans, and cannot yet estimate hurricane-related damages.

In a written statement, Cintas said its New Orleans facility, which appears to have suffered minimal damage, brings in about $400,000 in revenue a week, or roughly $20.8 million per year. The company reported total revenue of $3.07 billion for fiscal 2005.

Facilities in Mobile, Alabama; Jackson and Gulfport, Mississippi.; and Thibodaux, Baton Rouge and Hammond, Louisiana, were shut down for about a week following Hurricane Katrina because of power disruptions, but are now operational. Cintas said it will continue to pay affected employees and attempt to give jobs to workers relocated by the catastrophe. "Our most immediate concern is that our employees are safe, and we have requested that they contact the company to tell us where they are located. We intend to do whatever we can to assist them in this terrible situation. Additionally, the company is evaluating alternatives how it can best assist the region impacted by the storm, " said Scott D. Farmer, Cintas president and chief executive officer.

While the Red Cross and FEMA responded to the needs of the general public, those in the uniform business took similar steps to allay the needs and concerns of those in the industry, sending supplies and equipment to customers in the affected areas. “We got a request for uniforms from some hospitals, so we sent a container full of scrubs and nurse uniforms right away,” notes Kim Cooper, vice president, sales, Landau Uniforms, which operates out of Olive Branch, Mississippi. The company, too, also sent food and gift cards to many of the area’s hospital workers.

“That’s one thing about the South -- we just give and give and pull together no matter what,” notes Abform Uniforms’ Elizabeth Abdalla, who spent most of the immediate days following Katrina washing and cooking for friends, opening up her home, and dropping off supplies to refugees. “I never before realized the bureaucracy of our government,” she adds. “It‘s was and still is next to impossible to get FEMA or the Red Cross.” Specializing in industrial and school wear uniforms, Abform, located in Broussard, Louisiana, was out of the hurricane’s reach. “We were not physically affected but the emotional toll is high,” notes Abdalla. Abform, too, donated scrubs to hospitals in New Orleans. “But they had to be air lifted because the relief workers were being shot at by the looters,” she says.

Across the nation, companies pitched in and donated their wares. New York-based children’s apparel manufacturer Lollytogs, Ltd., donated 120,000 school uniforms to support displaced students. The bulk of the donation is being split between the Houston, Dallas and San Antonio Independent School Districts, which working under the guidelines of the Texas Education Agency, are accepting students from areas of Louisiana and the Mississippi gulf coast left homeless by the massive storm.

Lollytogs is the manufacturer of French Toast®, America’s leading brand of school uniforms, as well as other well known brands such as Lee® School uniforms and @School®, a Division of French Toast. “As soon as we saw the news that these districts were accepting displaced students we knew we could help,” said Gigi Gregersen, brand manager. “Uniforms are required in most school districts in Texas and we are honored to be able to help these kids get their lives back to normal and their school year off to a good start by looking good and feeling good in new outfits.”

Cincinnati’s Arslan Uniforms and Fechheimer Brothers also contributed to the relief effort. Arslan sent 1,000 shirts and pants to the postal service in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Alabama.

"Many of them have dispersed to other communities," said Steve Arslan, of Arslan Uniforms. "They obviously want to get back to work. Get on with their lives. They can ' t really do it without a uniform, so we were fortunate enough to be able to help as much as possible." Fechheimer, too, sent a shipment of uniforms to the region, and has a company-wide effort underway to send monetary donations to those in most need.

What will happen to those stores directly impacted from Katrina depends largely on how others in the industry respond. “This event will show just who is really committed to this industry and who isn‘t,” notes Hall. “Daystar will do whatever it can to help those who have been able to survive this.” That help includes releasing receivables with companies in worse-case situations. “You can write off a one-time hit with a Mom and Pop,” he says. “If they’re going to stay in business, you have to do this. They’ll rebuild, and won’t need the help again.”

But for some, the future is less certain. “No, not everyone will come back, because in some cases there’s nothing to come back to,” notes Abdalla. For those still in operation, new customers have replaced those lost to the storm, which has been the only glimmer of hope to materialize in this disaster. “Many departments are now coming to me because their old suppliers are gone,” says Jimmy Vinson. “If we didn’t survive, how would they get their supplies? With all the difficulties we‘ve had, I still feel very fortunate.“

Still, Vinson cannot believe the war zone-like atmosphere of the region. “It’s just incredible,” he says. “I’m sorry, but the pictures are not like being here. Not by a long shot.”