Emergency Announcement

Post Irma Update: September 13, 2017

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers directed for those suffering thru Hurricane Irma.

I am happy to say our warehouse and offices sustained only minor damage, however as of this update, our power and internet is still out and we do not know when it will be restored. I am trying to catch up today thanks to a friend whose power was already restored, though I may be offline still for a few days. 

We hope to re-open our offices and warehouse here in Florida by Monday, September 18. We have received some shipments, however are unable to generate shipping labels to get them out at this time. We will do so as soon as we are able. In the mean time, our warehouses in North Carolina and California are operating as normal.

Thanks again for all the well wishes. South Florida especially will continue to need your prayers and help.

Lori

September 10 Update: Irma keeps moving west

This morning it looks like Irma is going to hit the west coast of Florida harder than our Eastern/Central area. While this makes it hopeful for me, I worry about all those along the coast in Naples, Sarasota, and Tamp.

It is due to pass thru Central Florida around 2 am and should be over our warehouse (and my house) somewhere around 6 am. I may not be able to make another update here if power goes down as it is expected to do. I will try to post to our official twitter account.

I continue to get well-wishes from our vendors and customers - thank you everyone! Your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated!

Stay safe!

Lori

September 9 Update: We will see very high winds!

As of 5am this morning, the new projections for Hurricane Irma say she will go far more west of us - the eye is expected to go along the west coast of Florida (we are east/central Florida). However, the eastern side of the storm is going to go directly over pretty much all of Florida, us included, and that is the side with the most dangerous winds.

They are also predicting it may still be a Category 3 Hurricane when it reaches Central Florida - yesterday they were thinking it was going to be down to a level 2.

At this point, I am expecting to lose power for at least a few days if not longer. Everything else - internet, water, cell phone reception - are all big unknowns.

I am still working today and plan to work at least tomorrow morning, and have a few last minute shipments leaving the warehouse. California and North Carolina warehouses are shipping as normal (North Carolina may have to suspend service for a few days depending on the storm when it hits them).  It is expected to pass over us between 2 am and 10 am on Monday.

Thanks to everyone who have sent well wishes and even offered to house us if evacuated. It's nice to know we have such an awesome family of customers. At this point, we are as prepared as we can be and everyone will be hunkered in until Monday evening a the earliest. I hope to post more updates then.

Stay safe!

Lori

September 8 Update: We may be hit hard by Hurricane Irma!

The latest projections are showing Irma going straight up the center of Florida! A Hurricane has not done that in a very, very long time and if it stays at a Category 4 or even 3, it is going to cause MAJOR damage!

We have all hands on deck today getting as much shipped out as we possibly can and are securing everything.  We had a shipment arrive yesterday and 2 more due today. I am expecting 2 more with unknown delivery dates - hopefully NOT Monday which is when the brunt of the Irma will be felt. Everything else I have asked our vendors to hold delivery to our Florida warehouse until after I contact them. Shipments from our California warehouse will continue without disruption and hopefully from our North Carolina warehouse as well - damage is expected to be less there than in Florida.

I will be working thru Sunday afternoon but will be shut down totally from Sunday night thru to after the Hurricane. Hopefully I will be back online some time Monday evening but it is a big unknown right now! Again check our main Twitter Account as I will try to post updates there.

Keep us and every one in Florida in your prayers and please be ready to assist victims in any way you can. It is going to be a rough ride!

Lori

September 7 Update:

As Hurricane Irma is currently bearing down on Florida where our office and main warehouse is located, there may be some unavoidable store disruptions once it hits, currently predicted for Monday, September 11. While our buildings are not located in a flood prone area, power, internet and road blockages may happen.

We will try to keep everyone updated via our main Twitter Account, but please bear with us in the event of power, phone or internet disruptions as well as possible damage to our buildings or road closures. Our primary goal is the safety of our staff so the office may be closed for an extended period starting on Sunday, September 10.

Our warehouses in California will continue to ship as normal as long as we can send orders thru to them and are taking extra steps to keep things running as smoothly as possible. We do not currently expect much disruption to our warehouses in New York or North Carolina, but at this time with the storm track still an unknown, anything is possible there. And road and airport closures can affect delivery.

Please put thru your orders now, before the storm hits to avoid delays - this will also help us financially to ride out the storm. We are keeping a close eye on shipments that are currently in transit to us - some may experience delays and both Fedex and UPS will hold deliveries to storm hit areas so they may be delayed in reaching us.

We hope all customers the best during this situation and will be back to normal operations as soon as humanly possible.

Thanks for your extra patience and understanding during this scary time.

Lori Anne Brown, Owner
LABEShops Family of Stores