Wednesday
September 3, 2008
More announcements from retailers offering assistance in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav:
Best Buy, with eight stores in the affected region, has announced that customers can donate to the American Red Cross through all of the stores nationally through September 30, 2008. The retailer will also match donations up to $1 million.
Home Depot has announced it has donated $300,000 to the American Red Cross, in addition to $500,000 that the retailer donated to employees who were affected by the storm.
Finally, Target has announced a variety of relief efforts. They’re donating $300,000 in product relief packages assembled by volunteers and delegates from the Republican National Convention. The retailer has also given the American Red Cross access to their store in Convington, LA for use as an emergency operations center, and are allowing the Salvation Army to use a vacant store in Dallas, TX to store supplies.
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Tuesday
September 2, 2008
Lowe’s has released a statement regarding the impact of Hurricane Gustav on their stores and outlining their relief & recovery efforts:
As of Monday afternoon, Lowe’s had approximately 30 stores closed in coastal Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, and more than 70 total stores under its command center watch in the Gulf Coast region.
“Lowe’s command center is in full activation and we are expediting as much emergency product into affected communities to help customers recover when they return home,” said Larry D. Stone, Lowe’s president and chief operating officer. “In addition, Lowe’s employees from other parts of the Southeast are on standby as part of our Storm Recovery Teams that will allow Lowe’s to reopen stores as soon as it is safe to do so. These teams can also relieve affected Lowe’s employees so they may attend to their own homes and families.”
In addition to the trucks of supplies they have staged and are shipping to the Gulf Coast, the retailer also announced that all of their stores nationwide (1,575) will serve as official cash donation sites for the American Red Cross and will match in-store contributions.
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Hurricane Gustav continues to develop into a monster storm in the Gulf of Mexico. With the tragic lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina, residents and retailers alike are taking a more proactive approach to the arrival of this hurricane.
Yesterday, I talked about how well Home Depot was using their Twitter account to communicate hurricane tips and store information. Taking a look at the Home Depot Twitter, it appears that they have a dozen stores staying open all night in the Gulf Coast area. They’ve also brought in out of town volunteers to work the stores, allowing the local employees to secure their homes and evacuate. In addition to providing valuable information online, they’re also bringing supplies to the communities in need and staying open to allow people the time to get what they need. Home Depot also offers a section on their website with a wealth of information related to hurricane preparation.
The Wall Street Journal profiled the Walmart emergency operations center in Bentonville. Within the operations center, the retailer monitors the storm, communicates with the stores in the path of the storm, and plans on how to bring needed supplies, merchandise, and resources to the affected region. Walmart rapidly deployed resources to the Gulf Coast region after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and can serve as a model for retailer involvement in disaster relief.
Winn-Dixie has a list of their store closings on their website. Nola.com has several photos showing a very empty Winn-Dixie in New Orleans.
Publix is the sponsor of a website called Hurricane Gustav Resources. This website seems to be a great resource of shelters that are open and evacuation information.
Obvious business motives aside, it is great to see these businesses working so hard to assist their communities. If you know of other retailers working to assist the Gulf Coast, please let me know in the comments.
Photo from Flickr user Maitri, used under Creative Commons.
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