words Al Woods
When the COVID-19 pandemic reared its ugly head in the spring of 2020, we saw many of our favorite local businesses shut down, some temporarily and some permanently.
The news stories we saw on TV backed up our observations: the pandemic was really rough on a number of companies and industries, including gyms, restaurants, hotels, airlines and more.
While we were saddened to see the mom-and-pop taco shop we love close their doors, we saw a number of businesses that fared quite well during the pandemic. Here are three that are thriving.
Delivery Services
One industry that is booming due to the pandemic is delivery services. For instance, the DeliverEnd company, along with its convenient delivery app, saw an increase in its services when the pandemic started. People were stuck at home for weeks on end, so to pass the time many of them got busy going through their closets and garages. If they found something that they wanted to sell on a site like Craigslist, they might have been reluctant to do a meet-up in person due to the virus. Thanks to the innovative service from DeliverEnd, online marketplace deliveries are safe, secure and convenient. Rather than meeting a stranger in a parking lot to sell an old record player, the professional and trusted drivers from DeliverEnd can handle the entire process. It was a win-win-win for everyone and everything: the sellers, the buyers and the now-organized closets and garages.
Clorox
We never thought we’d do an actual happy dance in the supermarket when we found Clorox wipes, but then the pandemic came along and our celebratory standards changed. In an effort to keep our homes and possessions clean and sanitized, we bought plenty of the sanitizing wipes, which led to them being really hard to find. All of those canisters of highly sought after lemon-scented wipes added up for the Clorox company; as CNBC notes, they saw their best jump in sales in over 20 years. More specifically, they expect their full-year sales to rise in the range of 5-9 percent, and they also reported having their best quarter since the start of the pandemic. We suspect some of the top execs at Clorox also did their own happy dances when they saw these numbers, and we can’t say we blame them. We are also grateful the way they ran their factories 24/7 to try to keep up with demand.
Personal Protective Equipment
As Love Money notes, personal protective equipment (PPE) was not only the topic of many conversations during the pandemic, demand for it has also been sky-high. While PPE technically refers to the products used by healthcare workers to keep them as safe as possible, like surgical masks and safety glasses, most of us also stocked up on our own versions of PPE to use when we went out in public. Those boxes of blue or white paper face masks flew off store shelves, and many people also invested in a face shield or purchased cloth masks online. The companies that make all of these products saw boosts in their profits, and since they are often single-use items, this increase in sales should continue for some time.
Kudos to These Companies
The pandemic didn’t have a negative impact on all businesses and industries. In fact, as these three examples illustrate, some companies saw a tangible increase in their production and sales, which is welcome news during a year that was challenging. Now, if that mom-and-pop taco shop would re-open we’d be really delighted — we’ve really missed those carne asada tacos!
