PPB July 2020

different projections for different divisions. We also saw very clearly which segments were stable during the crisis, why, and will work to developmoremarket share,” she says. As far as any effect on her supply chain, she says, “We are amanufacturer, so we control much of our supply chain. However, there is no getting around certain components and key supplies. We have U.S.-basedmanufacturing in all key areas and redundancy in all major segments, and this helped.” Because Stahls offers a comprehensive educational component to customers, downtime during the pandemic drew more participants. “We found, during the pandemic, that businesses wanted to listen, learn and talk. Our educational sessions were packed. We found they would invest, and new start-up business is through the roof,” Gray says. She also was surprised to see how well many business owners handled the shelter-in-place orders. “Customers who were in business simply unplugged their heat presses and took them home. The heat press gave them independence, and a way to earn a living. All segments were doing this, from promo to sports and ecommerce fulfillment. People were personalizing masks on heat presses almost immediately—something that is difficult on a screen-print press. The customer base was so thankful that we remained open to fill their orders. They told us this time and time again.” The pandemic also gave the company time to rethink its business. “Stahls’ has been in business for 88 years and the pandemic forced our hand on changes that were long overdue, but culturally engrained,” Gray says. “On a daily basis, we realize that we can domore with less. We have streamlined and cut costs. Our executive team anticipates andmakes decisions to keep the company and our people healthy and employed. We know we will be a smaller company, but we also knowwe are smarter, leaner, stronger.” She is also confident about the company’s future in other areas. “We are very optimistic about new technologies we are introducing,” she says. “The pandemic made us focus on fewer projects with less distraction. We are driving these with the mentality of a start-up, make-or-break-it passion. We are introducing simpler solutions to an industry that needs clarity and simplicity and a focused way to profit.” During the pandemic, David Miller, president of Chocolate Inn/Taylor & Grant/ Lanco in Hicksville, New York, led his company to pivot by adding a new category of PPE products to the broad range of gifts, apparel, edibles and hardgoods already offered. New items include masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, wipes, dispensers, PPE kits, microfiber cleaning cloths and vitamin packs. “We reinvented ourselves in being one of the top suppliers to the industry of PPE products,” he says. The pandemic also made him rethink the company’s purpose and products to focus more toward the needs of where there is a scarcity of supply. Miller says his concern about the industry’s supply chain is about inflated product and shipping costs fromoverseas, but he anticipates sales will return to pre-lockdown levels by fourth quarter of this year. “We will rebound, and the pivoting of most distributors frompurely promotional to being top of mind for PPE products shows the versatility and survival aspects of our marketplace in which the relationships we have developed are supreme.” When most events and conferences came to a screeching halt this past spring, many custom orders at C. Sanders Emblem in San Fernando, California, were cancelled as well. “So many of our [end buyers] are schools, sports teams, museum gift stores, fraternal organizations and membership clubs,” says President Penny Ledbetter. “I’m confident they will all come back in time.” But COVID-19 was not the first challenge the supplier has faced in the past year. “Actually, our major issues started last September with the 15 percent tariff on top of the regular duty of 11 percent on our products coming from overseas. That 26 percent was not something we felt we could pass on to our customers. The past few months the tariff was reduced to 7.5 percent plus regular duty of 11 percent—so now we are at 18.5 percent. This has really hurt us.” In addition, she says all transport companies are now charging a surplus fee depending on weight so her cost to get products into her warehouse has risen significantly. However, there has been a positive side to the pandemic. “My team—admin, sales, artists and warehouse—are much closer. Job descriptions are out the window—everyone wears several hats—and communicating and coordinating is at an all-time high. Everyone is giving their all,” she says. Ledbetter reopened her facility inMay and is worried that business will not come back to previous levels. “I worry that [end buyers] with budget constraints due to David Miller President, Chocolate Inn/ Taylor & Grant/Lanco Penny Ledbetter President, C. Sanders Emblem Supplier Insights | FEATURE | JULY 2020 | 47