Considered an essential business, Allegra Marketing Print Mail in Cedar Rapids stayed open through the COVID-19 Pandemic. City, county and state contracts for printing services helped sustain them. That said, they were deeply affected like most small to mid-sized companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSales were off-of-goal by 25% early in the crisis,\u201d said Eric Van Kerckhove, general manager and co-owner. \u201cRevenues rebounded for a while but are likely to be down 10% to 20% every month for the foreseeable future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In reaction to the downturn, the center sent each worker home for one day a week and termed it \u201cpaid social-distancing time off.\u201d The staff returned to a five-day work schedule soon thereafter, but the company put in place its summer operating hours several months early.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBusiness permitting, we now close at 2:00 p.m. on Fridays,\u201d said Van Kerckhove. \u201cIt\u2019s a good way to trim about four hours from everyone\u2019s normal 40-hour-a-week work schedule and salary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDiversification played a key role in keeping us going. We\u2019re not dependent on any one product or service. We offer it all \u2014 from graphic design, wide format, signage and web services to marketing, printing and mail. Branded apparel and promotional products are also two product lines that have been growing for us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Allegra\u2019s Crisis-Assistance Initiatives Gain Praise<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Shortly after the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Allegra network created and distributed a Business Continuity Manual<\/em> as well as a Liquidity Resource Guide<\/em> \u2014 both of which were highly praised by franchise members for their practical information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These communications came on top of the company\u2019s frequent webinars, emails and crisis updates. Many were delivered within hours of news on major government initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No effort was spared. Allegra network\u2019s executive leadership team and regional directors fielded phone calls from and shared expertise with franchise members day and night. Their concerns about liquidity were also quickly addressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe company\u2019s Royalty Relief Plan<\/em> is a real testament to their commitment to our success,\u201d said Van Kerckhove. \u201cIt demonstrates the home office is in this together with us center owners. They stepped up with three good options for us to gain discounts and\/or defer payments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Allegra Cedar Rapids successfully received funding through the initial period of the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt this point, the marketing assistance we\u2019re receiving is invaluable,\u201d said Van Kerckhove. \u201cWe\u2019re advising clients on how to get back to business. Of course, we\u2019re also promoting the Allegra products and services they\u2019ll need to reopen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Network Participation Delivers Another Benefit<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Allegra center owners gained exposure to innovative ideas implemented by other franchise members who are in the same situation but in different markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA prime example is a special offer from another Allegra,\u201d said Van Kerckhove. \u201cOn their web-to-print storefront, they posted a template of a COVID-19 Crisis safety flyer. It could be customized at no charge by any local business. They also included free printing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The concept prompted local companies to try online print ordering. It showed them how easily they could personalize a posted template with their name and address. Of course, the safety flyer also benefited public health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s a win for the community at large, local companies and the Allegra center,\u201d said Van Kerckhove. \u201cIt\u2019s also a plus for us fellow Allegra business owners. By sharing good ideas, we\u2019ll help each other get through this crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Considered an essential business, Allegra Marketing Print Mail in Cedar Rapids stayed open through the COVID-19 Pandemic. City, county and state contracts for printing services helped sustain them. That said, they were deeply affected like most small to mid-sized companies. \u201cSales were off-of-goal by 25% early in the crisis,\u201d said Eric Van Kerckhove, general manager…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-development","category-the-print-industry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allegramarketingprint.com\/franchise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allegramarketingprint.com\/franchise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allegramarketingprint.com\/franchise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allegramarketingprint.com\/franchise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allegramarketingprint.com\/franchise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.allegramarketingprint.com\/franchise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4296\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allegramarketingprint.com\/franchise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allegramarketingprint.com\/franchise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allegramarketingprint.com\/franchise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allegramarketingprint.com\/franchise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}