ORLANDO, Fla. – With almost all events canceled during the pandemic, demand for portable toilets plummeted. This caused businesses in that industry to come to a stand still.
Andy Christian and Linda Carlile own Royal Restrooms of Florida. The two say after having a halt in their business, demand now is higher than ever.
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“Most of our events, weddings, festivals, football games were postponed or reduced in number, so it seems like everybody is trying to make up for the last year,” Christian said.
The demand is a stark contrast to what the business said it experienced during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We lost all of our events and we were kind of wondering what we were going to do. You know, from March, April, May, everything was canceled. We had to refund monies,” Christian said.
Portable toilets aren’t just a convenience, they are required by Florida law for special events. The Florida Department of State even has a chart displaying how many toilets are required based on how many people are expected to attend.
With more outdoor events popping up, Christian said it’s possible some events might need to be canceled or scaled back because of a lack of supply.
“They might have to limit the amount of people because they don’t have enough toilets,” Christian said.
In order to prevent running out of inventory, the business said it is looking for new ways to find the needed supply.
“We are trying to get trailers, additional trailers or buy trailers, even used trailers and they are just not out there. And the manufacturers are months and months behind schedule,” Christian said.
During the pandemic, Royal Restrooms of Florida said it was able to get business assisting at vaccination sites and a prison.