Electronic Retailer - April 2011 - 14

INDUSTRY REPORTS

Sustaining No Critical Damage in Japan Disaster, Oak Lawn Marketing Organizes Relief Efforts
NAGOYA, JAPAN – On Friday March 11, at 2:46 p.m., Japan experienced the largest earthquake in its recorded history with a resulting tsunami that brought unprecedented devastation to its northeastern coast. “We are sure that all of you like us were shocked by the amount of destruction shown on TV and the internet. There is no doubt that this is a tragedy of monumental proportions for Japan,” the company said in an open letter to its colleagues in the electronic retailing industry, signed by Oak Lawn President & CEO Harry Hill, Chairman and Co-Founder Robert Roche, Co-Founder Tadashi Nakamura and Operating Officer Scott Reid. “All of us at Oak Lawn Marketing would like to express our heartfelt sympathy to those who have been directly affected by these tragic events. We feel deep appreciation to all our friends and business partners who contacted us, many within hours of the disaster, to express their concern for our safety and to offer assistance to the people of Japan.” The letter goes on to detail OLM’s status since the disaster: “With employees, operations and infrastructure in multiple cities across Japan, Oak Lawn Marketing was fortunate not to sustain critical damage. After implementing our Crisis and Risk Management processes, we were quickly able to confirm the safety of all 1,138 employees and their immediate families. Oak Lawn Marketing began to hold a daily company-wide meeting to ensure that the information and action plans of the OLM Emergency Task Force were communicated smoothly and quickly to all employees. Once we were able to confirm the safety of our employees and operating capacity of our infrastructure, our focus returned to operating our business at full capacity and to create a plan of action to help those in need.” Noting the company’s commitment to social responsibility and giving back, the letter describes how employees quickly created an employee fund for disaster relief, which was followed by Oak Lawn Marketing’s own OLM Disaster Relief Fund, which has been initially seeded with 150 million Yen (US$1.85 Million) from the company and from it its senior executive shareholders. “We have decided to formally call this fund the OLM Genki Japan Fund. “Genki” in Japanese means to be healthy and energetic and we felt that this word best described what we aspire to accomplish with the fund.” Focusing efforts on providing shelter and basic necessities and helping the country with rebirth and return to self reliance, Oak Lawn Marketing has partnered with Hope International Development Agency, Japan (HOPE-JP), a non-governmental organization the company has sponsored since 2002. They have teamed with The Japan Helicopters Association and Global Medic to provide relief in the devastated areas. The company has donated 100 percent of the OLM Genki Japan Fund to HOPE-JP and is working closely to support the relief efforts. Harry Hill and HOPE-JP Executive Director Lowell Sheppard recently flew over the affected area to plan their approach to getting aid to those in need. “The biggest urgent need is for logistical support to get items such as water, blankets, mattresses, diapers, baby formula, sanitary products, and medicines to the people in shelters. Often goods are in storage depots near the affected areas, but the last mile of getting these goods to the people who need them is often the most difficult. We have found several areas where basic necessities have yet to arrive and our initial focus is on supplementing the help to these areas until the government is able to take over.” To that end, they have purchased two 2-ton trucks to transport items and have established their own warehouse depot in the area. They have also developed a network of volunteers to collect needed items from southern Japan, along with drivers and pilots to transport items to their bases and then local transport to get items to shelters and remote areas. This effort began March 19 and you can learn more about their

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electronicRETAILER | April 2011

3/26/11 4:27:34 PM
Electronic Retailer - April 2011

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