MEDCO warehouses remain operational during COVID-19 pandemic

Andrew Keim, president at MEDCO, addresses the company’s customers during the COVID-19 pandemic through the following letter:

Dear valued customer,

We want to thank you for your continued partnership and support during this challenging time. As you may know, the Department of Homeland Security issued a memorandum that identified essential infrastructure workers during the COVID-19 response. We have been included in that group that has been recognized at a Federal level and have also been recognized as an "essential" part of the critical infrastructure by an overwhelming number of state and local authorities. This means that we are excluded from restrictions including mandatory closures, allowing us to remain fully functional through this difficult time.

In addition, our CEO, Kevin Short, was included in a group of 32 senior executives in the retail and wholesale sector who met with the President and Vice President last week. That discussion, which included the CEOs of companies such as Amazon, Home Depot, Costco, and others, brought together leaders of companies seen as essential businesses in helping to manage through the current COVID-19 pandemic. Our ability to be recognized in this way is a testament to you and your commitment to getting the right products into the hands of all who are unified in addressing this challenge.

Please click here to read the letter from Kevin Short.

As you would expect, we are closely monitoring the situation with coronavirus/COVID-19. And, like you, we are taking all appropriate steps to keep our company, customers, and suppliers protected to the best of our ability as we address the challenges that this pandemic is creating. We are following the advice of the CDC and the WHO, staying abreast of the changing conditions and recommendations, and preparing ourselves to best serve all of our audiences. Please allow me to share some things that are changing, and things to expect, as we move forward and until this virus is contained:

• All travel has been restricted for our field sales team. This means that our sales associates will now work with you via phone, text, and email. They will be available during regular workday hours. We are doing this for the safety of our team, and of our customers, as we seek to abide by the social distancing recommendations from the governing bodies.
• We are contingency planning to minimize disruptions to your business by having all non-warehouse employees work remote. Regarding our warehouse teams, we have advised them to remain at home if they have any cold or flu-like symptoms. We are taking all possible steps to limit their exposure to others in the warehouse and have enhanced our already significant cleaning schedules.
• Inventory levels on most products are strong and we are in continual contact with our key suppliers to manage to any potential delays. There are some specific product categories where demand has been atypically high (disposable gloves, respiratory masks, etc.) and inventory replenishment is a significant challenge. We are working with our suppliers to meet the increase in demand and we have implemented additional controls to allocate inventory based on your historical purchase volume of these products. Our goal is to serve your needs rather than to sell these items at higher prices to opportunistic buyers. Please contact customer care for any availability questions.
• We will be adjusting our pickup policy as of Wednesday, March 25 to continue to support social distancing. Please click here to view the detailed changes in our pickup procedures.

Together, we will manage through the current situation and do our best to ensure that we limit any potential interruption to your business. Most important, however, is that we respect the unprecedented nature of the current situation, and that we do whatever is necessary to keep ourselves, our employees, our families, and all of our customers and suppliers safe and healthy. Any operational changes that we have to make will be towards achieving this goal. We will stay in contact with you and will work with you in every way possible.

You can expect much more communication from us as we manage through this crisis. Until then, if you have any questions, please contact us.

Sincerely,

Andrew Keim

President, MEDCO