Amidst
Multiple Hurricanes, Knight Avante Delivers Flawlessly On
3 Major CBL Mall Renovations
Twenty
years in business and never late for a single deadline.
Heading into the fall of 2004, with a contract to deliver
site amenities for three major CBL & Associates mall
renovations, Knight Avante had no reason to expect that
this reputation would be challenged . . . and then came
the hurricanes.
First
there was Charley. Although it had already passed across
Florida and lost considerable steam, it was still a Category
1 Hurricane when it made an almost direct hit on Charleston,
South Carolina and the Northwoods Mall job site. Then came
Frances. Directly in Frances’ projected path was Panama
City, FL and another CBL/Knight Avante amenities project,
the Panama City Mall. Less than a week after Frances, forecasters
began predicting that Panama City was in-line for yet another
thumping by Hurricane Ivan. Much worse than Frances, Ivan
was expected to make first landfall exactly at Panama City
as a Category 4 or 5 hurricane.
Knight Avante was fulfilling CBL’s amenities order
at multiple production facilities—the majority of
which were located in the South and threatened by at least
one hurricane. It seemed inevitable that Knight Avante’s
production and delivery schedules would be thrown into disarray.
Determined not to let anything—even a series of natural
disasters—damage their perfect reputation, Knight
Avante began making the necessary preparations to weather
the storm unscathed and deliver the order as promised and
on time.
Precautions
were taken to protect both the facilities involved and the
amenities that had already been finished. Schedules and
timetables were re-written to ensure that—hurricanes
or no hurricanes—the shipments would arrive on-time.
As the hurricanes approached, evacuations began and traffic
became a nightmare. Fortunately, however, because Knight
Avante handles all of their own transportation, they were
able to remain in complete control of product shipments
and avoid potential problems.
Bringing an audible sigh of relief to everyone involved,
Ivan, the worst of the storms, drifted to the west and made
landfall in Alabama instead of the Florida panhandle. Hurricane
Jeanne threatened both the Florida and South Carolina projects
again a week or so later, but fortunately brought nothing
more than rough weather. Knight Avante’s production
facilities had suffered some damage and one location had
been without power for several days, but the hurricane season
was finally over.
A representative
from CBL’s General Contractor on all three projects,
EMJ Corporation, noted near the end of the hurricane season
that they were “surprised that Knight Avante had never
used the hurricanes as an excuse to not deliver on time.”
Indeed, Knight Avante did deliver on time and had no need
whatsoever for excuses. In total, Knight Avante manufactured
and delivered over 300 decorative planters, over 100 trash
receptacles and approximately 100 sofas and lounge chairs.
Other items Knight Avante provided included indoor benches,
outdoor benches and decorative end tables. All of the amenities
had been specifically customized for each mall’s décor
and even sub-customized for various locations throughout
each mall.
In the end, for a client-focused company determined to deliver
the best customer service in the industry, even an unprecedented
string of hurricanes was no “excuse” for poor
customer service. Despite the fact that every Act of God
seemed pitted against them, Knight Avante simply did what
was necessary to guarantee that no matter how many nightmares
CBL might have to face at these key job sites, Knight Avante’s
part of those projects would not be one of them.
