LA-based Promo Companies Contend With Raging Wildfires

Since Tuesday, the city of Los Angeles has been contending with massive wildfires that have been spreading across parts of the city, due in large part to historically dry January conditions in the area. Buildings and homes have been turned to ash, multiple people have died, and tens of thousands of people have been evacuated.

As of Thursday morning there were four primary fire areas around the city, but the smoke of fires there and elsewhere spread far due to hurricane-level winds, which has worsened air quality. On Wednesday morning, there were more than 300,000 power outages reported in the LA area with electricity issues being a factor, likely through the week.

Authorities have little confidence the fires will be fully contained by Friday.

Much of the promo community is directly or indirectly – through friends, family or acquaintances – by the danger, practical inconvenience or ongoing fear caused by the LA wildfires. Our own director of sustainability, Elizabeth Wimbush, resides in the LA area. Wednesday morning before heading to Las Vegas for The PPAI Expo 2025, she reported that she and her family are out of imminent danger.

Affected Promo Companies

PPAI Media has been in contact with several promo professionals and businesses in or near the affected area. *If you are a promo firm in or near LA and would like to provide an update on the status of your business, please contact JonnyA@PPAI.org.*

We have no electricity, so we will be slow to getting back to emails, and no phone calls are being received.”

Monique Nigorizawa-Salvatier

Director of Sales & Marketing, Pinnacle Designs

Pinnacle Designs was closed Wednesday. “We have no electricity, so we will be slow to getting back to emails, and no phone calls are being received,” says director of sales and marketing Monique Nigorizawa-Salvatier. The company will continue to provide updates throughout the week.

Los Angeles Apparel reported Wednesday being a safe distance from any imminent danger. “We’re about 30 miles from the fire and currently operating with our regular hours under dark skies and falling ash,” says Pat Honda, president of wholesale. “We are closely watching for fire updates and will let our customers know if there are any changes to our business hours.”

We have some team members on evacuation watch, but so far the business and team are safe.”

Erin Herrera

VP of Sales, Wholesale & B2B, Graf Lantz

As of Wednesday, Graf Lantz has managed to continue to operate business as usual. “We have some team members on evacuation watch, but so far, the business and team are safe,” says Erin Herrera, VP of sales, wholesale and B2B.

Andrew Spellman, CAS, chair of the PPAI Board of Directors and vice president of corporate markets at Los Angeles-based Therabody, says that the team is doing OK. “Our CEO reached out on Tuesday night and requested all LA-based employees stay home to mitigate any disruption to the efforts to contain the fires,” Spellman says.

BAMKO, which is PPAI 100’s No. 6 distributor, is technically based out of LA, but its business is spread out around the country, allowing operations to remain running.

“BAMKO announced that its business operations remain unaffected by the ongoing wildfires in the Los Angeles area,” the company said in a statement to PPAI Media. “However, the company acknowledges that some of its employees have been directly impacted by the fires.”

Our thoughts are with our employees and everyone who has been affected by these devastating wildfires. We are committed to supporting our employees during this difficult time and are providing them with the resources they need to recover.”

Statement From BAMKO

“Our thoughts are with our employees and everyone who has been affected by these devastating wildfires. We are committed to supporting our employees during this difficult time and are providing them with the resources they need to recover. BAMKO is taking steps to ensure the safety and well-being of its employees in the Los Angeles area.

Cosmo Promos has lost access to electricity in the offset of the disaster, but as of Thursday afternoon had resumed operations. “Cosmo Promos is currently up and running today after a day and a half without power,” says Terry Hilpert, Western region territory manager. “We have employees that have been affected due to the fires and are asking for patience and understanding at this time as we as well as everyone else are working thru this trying time. Our thoughts are with everyone and know we will get thru this and come out stronger.”