Some promotional products distributors have begun sourcing personal protective equipment (PPE) from overseas factories to meet marketplace demand – and to keep a modicum of revenue streaming in as traditional promo sales plummet amid widespread event cancellations and shutdowns of businesses, sports leagues and schools, all of which is a result of the COVID-19 outbreak..

The news has emerged as a growing number of ad specialty suppliers also report that they’re using their manufacturing muscle to produce PPE medical necessities like surgical masks, face shields, hospital gowns and more as part of a broader private sector effort to battle the coronavirus.

Howard Potter is among the distributors selling PPE items. He says he’s doing so out of necessity.

Like many in promo of late, the CEO/co-owner of Utica, NY-based A&P Master Images (asi/102019) was experiencing a deluge of order cancellations – like nothing he’d ever seen in his 17 years of business. He had to lay off some staffers – something he’d never done before. It was a devastating blow to the small town business that operates as a family.

Sick over the situation, Potter didn’t wilt; he took action. He and his wife/business partner Amanda researched medical supplies and found several suppliers that could provide goggles, face shields and more. Being able to provide such items, Potter’s company got essential business status and was able to remain open. Then the sales started. “Within the last week we sold 20,000 goggles, 20,000 face shields to our county emergency response team, and 5,000 face shields to our local hospital,” Potter told Counselor.

Then the local hospital contacted Potter again. It needed face shields faster. Potter, whose firm has in-house production capabilities that include apparel decoration and vinyl graphics, researched how to make them. “My wife and I led the charge with our team,” says Potter, whose company produced a prototype that the hospital said would work.

We made our first prototype of a #face #shield today! @ChrisR_ASI @TheresaHegel @CJ_ASIEditor @UticaChamber @DowntownUtica @realDonaldTrump @CityofUtica @ABrindisiNY @AJPicenteJr @SheriffRob @MayorPalmieri @SenGriffo https://t.co/Or18y7HIWo pic.twitter.com/b8JcH3kSAN

— Howard Potter (@AP_MasterImages) March 25, 2020

“Waking up this morning (March 26), we already have standing orders for 5,000 shields. The best part? We can start bringing employees back right now! We have a meeting this morning with a company who wants to sell the shields. They might buy 50,000 to 100,000 units of them. This can keep not only our crew busy, but allow us to potentially hire more people who are out of work because of COVID-19.”

New York City-based Whitestone Branding (asi/359741) is also among the distributorships that have turned to providing PPE essentials and more. Drawing on what Owner/Founder Joseph Sommer described as its extensive global sourcing network, Whitestone has started offering N95 masks, goggles, gloves, hand sanitizer and other items “at fair market prices, at scale and in a timely fashion.”

“We made the pivot over the weekend [March 21 to 22], working hard to solidify our supply chain,” Sommer told Counselor. “We’re already in talks with several hospitals and a number of large corporations that want to buy product that they can then donate.”

Sommer admits that Whitestone’s promo sales have dropped off a shelf in recent weeks as the coronavirus cripples the American economy. With orders drying up, importing in-demand necessities seemed like a smart move to generate sales, while also allowing Whitestone to support efforts centered on defeating the largest public health threat in the U.S. since at least the 1918 flu pandemic.

“Frankly, we were able to pivot so quickly to these products because it seemed like the only thing to do,” Sommer told Counselor. “Every night the news was showing a shortage of supplies. Friends of ours and family members who are in the healthcare space were reaching out all over social media, asking for help and supplies. While all this was happening, our counterparts in Asia were sending us emails saying that they could help provide these supplies, rather than the normal mug or pen order. We quickly acted, built a catalog and have started to market this.”

Meanwhile, Chicago-based distributor iPromo Promotional Products (asi/229471) was taking a similar approach – and for more or less the same reasons. “Business had dropped off a cliff,” Leo Friedman (pictured), CEO and founder of iPromo, told Counselor, noting that the current predicament has been worse than the sales decline seen during the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009. The plethora of event cancellations has hit the distributor particularly hard, Friedman noted.

Spotting a marketplace need and keen to help combat COVID-19’s spread and to help protect healthcare workers, Friedman shifted his company’s sourcing focus to sought-after medical/health items. “Masks, hand sanitizer, thermometers – you name it, we got it now,” Friedman told the CBS affiliate in Chicago.

Other distributorships were similarly reorienting their sourcing to focus on PPE items, but didn’t wish to speak on the record. They noted that masks, gowns, goggles and shields have been selling briskly.

On March 23, Counselor reported that SanMar (asi/84863), SnugZ/USA (asi/88060), Starline (asi/89320), Los Angeles Apparel (asi/67971), HanesBrands (asi/59528) and Fruit of the Loom (asi/84257) were among the industry suppliers that have started producing items like masks. Other industry suppliers are part of the effort, too. For instance, Showdown Displays (asi/87188) is making medical gowns, protective screens and masks. Meanwhile, supplier Allmade Apparel (asi/34341) and screen-printing supply company Ryonet, which both have entrepreneur Ryan Moor as CEO, are making various protective masks.

Showdown Displays is proud to announce our Essential Business Status. pic.twitter.com/VfBCPGkQdL

— Showdown Displays (@ShowdownDisplay) March 24, 2020