Mar 25, 2020
Rocky Brands deemed essential business under Ohio stay-at-home order, will continue operations and shipments
Mar 25, 2020
Shoe manufacturing company Rocky Brands Inc. will continue operations and shipments from its distribution center in Logan, Ohio following Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and the Ohio Department of Health issuing a stay-at-home order for all non-essential businesses from March 24 through April 6, 2020.
The Rocky Brands portfolio focuses on occupational footwear, with brands including Rocky, Georgia Boot, Durango, Lehigh Outfitters and Lehigh CustomFit, Slipgrips and Shoe Angel, a footwear benefit program for individuals working in the medical industry.
The company’s 200,000-square-foot distribution center has been deemed as an essential infrastructure business operation based on the order's requirements.
The distribution center currently has approximately 1.3 million pairs of footwear in inventory, and is ready to ship the company’s work, duty and outdoor footwear to customers throughout the country, the company said.
In order to keep distribution center employees safe, the company said it has implemented several policies in accordance with CDC and Ohio Department of Health guidelines, including limiting contact among staff members, staggering work hours, conducting daily health screenings as well as regular cleaning and sanitization of the entire facility.
“...We agree with Ohio’s approach to permit distribution centers to continue to operate," said Jason Brooks, Rocky Brands CEO.
"This is especially important at this time for our distribution center to operate as our footwear products are utilized by our country’s critical infrastructure businesses which need to be maintained during this crisis.
“This includes the military, police and fire and other first responders, farmers and ranchers, food and drug manufacturers, hospital workers, electric, gas and water utility companies, oil and gas producers, transportation and logistics businesses, and public works,” he said.
The company's manufacturing facilities in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic are under government orders to not operate for the next 14 days. These plants produce approximately half of the company’s products, with the remainder being produced by contract manufacturers in other countries– primarily China–where manufacturing resumed at the end of February, the company said.
Rocky Brands began having its corporate staff work remotely last week.
The company currently maintains a secured asset-based revolving credit facility up to a principal amount of $75 million and an additional $25 million option.
To bolster liquidity, Rocky Brands has drawn down $20 million from its credit facility, in order to fund working capital requirements during the first half of 2020.
After the draw down, the company said it expects to have approximately $40 million in cash and cash equivalents. Prior to this, the company had no debt.
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