COVID-19 prompts Arizona woman to change ditch the store and go straight to customer

COVID-19 pandemic prompts changes to Arizona woman's business

Before the pandemic, Chandra Hammer had a store to sell medical apparel for medical professionals. The pandemic, however, changed all that, but Hammer made the best of it, and in the process, changed her business model.

PHOENIX - The COVID-19 pandemic nearly ended a Valley woman's business, but she was able to save it with some quick thinking, as well as a bus.

Now businesses at ProMed Apparel couldn't be any better.

Business stopped during pandemic

Some of the busiest people during this pandemic have been those working in the medical field, and while Chandra Hammer provides clothing to hundreds of medical workers via her business, sales essentially ground to a halt when medical workers were too busy to come in and buy new scrubs.

"People weren’t shopping like they were, so overhead is still high, income is not coming in," said Hammer.

Hammer couldn’t survive keeping her retail store in 2020, so so she bought a bus, with the idea of taking the business to the customer.

Medical professionals hail ‘time saver'

Now, ProMed Apparel goes to clinics and hospitals all over the Valley to get the employees the right fit.

"Tried it out on a few customers, and they were like, 'oh my gosh. This is so easy,'" said Hammer. "Nurses and clinicians love it because they don’t have to take a day off and come to the store. We’re just right there."

Those in the medical field happy Hammer took a risk.

"Takes five to 10 minutes, and my employees are getting on with their next thing as far as orientation and training, so it is a huge time saver, whereas before, we’re talking a couple of hours when we're talking about travel and everything else, so it's a huge benefit to us," said Marisa Walker, a Clinic Manager with Ophthalmic Surgeons Tempe.

When asked about her thoughts on returning to a retail store, Hammer says she will pass.

"My qualify of life has improved a lot with this transition," said Hammer.

Tune in to FOX 10 Phoenix for the latest news

Get the latest coronavirus news by downloading the FOX 10 News App. Our promise is that our alerts are there to inform you - not scare you.

Sign up for FOX 10 email alerts, newsletters