Pollock Orora is a 102-year-old company that has persisted through many societal upheavals, but the COVID-19 pandemic has presented a set of unique challenges, good, bad, and uncharted.
Pollock was purchased by Australian company Orora in 2018, and CEO Lonnie Pollock III is still at the the helm of Pollock Orora. His experience has relevance for businesses across the spectrum.
The company provides packaging, cleaning supplies and equipment, as well other office essentials. It employs 450 associates across five branches in Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and Atlanta, plus several warehouses and shipping centers. Orora acquired what had previously been a family-owned company in 2018, in part to expand its reach into the central United States from its U.S. base on the west coast.
One would think the pandemic would be a business boom for the company, but it’s been a mixed bag. Fewer employees are going to the office, but for those that are, companies are making a concerted effort to maintain safety and sanitation. The market has morphed and Pollock Orora has changed with it.
The other part of its business –packaging — is also a new game. Consumers are ordering more products online, requiring more packaging, but with many of the businesses empty of customers, the overall needs for packaging are down.
The company’s facility in Grand Prairie has had to make its own adjustments to keep different groups isolated and to reduce close physical contact, while running a 24-hour operation. “We are taking drastic steps to separate the manufacturers, delivery, and front office,” Pollock says. Fewer people are heading to headquarters, but for those who are, temperature checks and masks are part of the new normal. “It has changed our world.”
Pollock Orora sells janitorial supplies and equipment, and services that equipment as well. Pollock says there has been a significant uptick in sanitizing services. Employees who service other companies’ facilities are suiting up in protective equipment even as disinfectant and cleaning supplies become difficult to come by.
Looking ahead, Pollock says that working from home may become more normal for those who are able, and as companies realize that they may need less office space, janitorial supply sales could decline. “If companies find out they can operate without that high dollar office space, some of that has potential to affect our business,” Pollock says.
For Orora, the acquisition represented an expansion into the cleaning supplies business, which may prove to be a great move given the new normal. “It opened the people’s eyes, because business associates and facilities are going to operate differently from this day on,” Pollock says. “There are a lot of opportunities for companies like ours to think through where they are. Whatever the old world was, the new one will be dramatically different.”
