The COVID-19 outbreak has been challenging for everyone. As everyone is adapting to a new daily lifestyle, White Elegance is doing everything we can to help. While we closed our retail locations, except for burial dress appointments, our employees are hard at work manufacturing hospital caps and gowns for healthcare facilities in Utah and around the country.
Fox 13 News at Nine recently met up with our team discussing how our shops are lending a hand right now. You can watch the entire feature below.
The change of pace came quickly after learning details of the virus and how it would affect people around the world. Once we realized the extent of the situation, our leadership team started thinking of ways we could lend a hand.
We quickly closed down our retail stores in an effort to keep our customers and staff safe and healthy. But we didn’t know what to do for our employees. We wanted to keep our employees working in a safe environment, but knew that business would most likely slow down.
That’s when our leadership team thought of a way White Elegance could step up to the plate.
Reporters caught up with White Elegance co-owner Anna Barbieri learning more about our product change-up. She explained, “The light bulb went on and went, ‘Hey– this is something we can do. And we can do it pretty darn quickly.”
Now, most of our staff are spending working hours cutting blue fabric instead of white as we prepare, cut, and hospital caps and gowns for healthcare workers in Utah and throughout the country.
Those employees that typically work in our retail stores help pin fabric to patterns, while the rest of our teams do what they do best—sew.
Anna also detailed how our efforts are helping by telling Fox 13 News at Nine reporters, “It was easy for us to be able to see the need for hospitals, and skilled nursing centers, and clinics,” Barbieri continued. “And to be able to come up quickly with a gown that would work for them, and because we already have sources for fabric– we were able to do that pretty quickly.”
We hope that by lending a hand, healthcare workers get some of the supplies they need right now. As of last week, White Elegance plans on making 25,000 hospital gowns and 1,500 caps. Our South Salt Lake warehouse will focus its efforts on producing hospital caps, and our Texas facility will make the gowns.
Melissa Salimbene, who manages our Centerville location and is involved in our current manufacturing plans told Fox 13 News at Nine, “It’s nice to be able to be doing something physically that I know is going to help our healthcare workers, and keep people safe, and slow down the spread of this virus.”
We appreciate all of our employees who are sticking by us and continuing their work during these hard times. It wouldn’t be possible without them. White Elegance is also incredibly grateful for those on the frontlines, fighting for the health and safety of people everywhere. We can get through this together as we play our part.
In addition to hospital caps and gowns, our online store is open. You can also get pickup your online order by opting for our curbside pickup services.
Read more about White Elegance’s coronavirus efforts on the Fox 13 website.