Six months ago, nobody in the Memphis security industry was thinking about pandemics. They were thinking about contract renewals, staffing shortages, and whether the Grizzlies would make the playoffs. Then March happened, and every security company in the metro had to answer the same question: can you keep doing this when everything around you is falling apart?
Some answered yes. Some went quiet. A few surprised me.
I’ve spent the last three weeks calling around, checking in with property managers, talking to guards on post, and comparing notes with people who hire security firms across Shelby County. What follows isn’t a ranked list. It’s an honest look at who showed up and who didn’t during the strangest six months this industry has seen.
Phelps Security: The Old Guard Holds Steady
Phelps has been operating out of their office on Park Avenue since 1960. Sixty years in Memphis. That kind of longevity doesn’t happen by accident, and it doesn’t happen if you fold every time things get hard.
From what I’ve heard, Phelps kept their contracts running through March and April without major gaps. Their strength has always been healthcare and retail, two sectors that needed security more than ever once COVID hit. Hospital entrances needed screening checkpoints. Grocery stores needed crowd management. Phelps had the relationships already in place.
A property manager I talked to on the east side said Phelps didn’t raise rates during the surge in demand. “They could have charged more. Everyone was desperate. They kept their pricing where it was,” she told me. That’s the kind of move that buys loyalty for years.
The family ownership structure probably helps here. Decisions don’t go through a corporate committee in New York. If a client calls on a Saturday night, someone with the authority to actually solve the problem picks up the phone.
Allied Universal: Big Machine, Big Wins
Nobody should be surprised that Allied Universal came through this period in strong shape. They’re the largest security company in the world, and they have the resources to prove it. When Baptist Memorial and Methodist Le Bonheur needed extra security for their COVID protocols, Allied had the bodies and the logistics to deliver quickly.
Their recruiting infrastructure gave them an edge. While smaller firms struggled with the TDCI licensing bottleneck, Allied had enough existing, licensed personnel to shift around. They could pull guards from lower-priority posts and redeploy them to healthcare contracts that were paying premium rates.
The downside with Allied, and this is something I hear from clients regularly, is the personal touch. You’re dealing with a massive corporation. Account managers rotate. The guard on your site this week might not be the same one next week. For a hospital that needs consistent, trained personnel at screening stations, that’s a real concern.
Still, when the phones were ringing off the hook in late March and companies needed security fast, Allied answered. You can’t argue with that.
Imperial Security: Right Place, Right Time
Imperial Security has operated from their Poplar Avenue location since 1968. They’ve always been strong in transportation and logistics, which turned out to be the right specialty to have during a pandemic.
Memphis is a logistics city. FedEx runs its global hub here. The warehousing and distribution sector exploded when online ordering surged in March and April. Every distribution center and fulfillment warehouse needed more security: access control, employee screening, protecting inventory that was suddenly worth a lot more because supply chains were strained.
Imperial was already embedded in that world. They had the contracts, the clearances, and the people who understood how warehouse security works. When demand jumped, they expanded their existing accounts rather than scrambling for new ones.
I talked to a warehouse operations manager in southeast Memphis who uses Imperial. “They added shifts within 48 hours of us asking,” he said. “Didn’t blink. Didn’t renegotiate. Just got it done.” That kind of responsiveness matters when your facility is running 24 hours and you’ve got trucks lined up at the dock.
Shield of Steel: Picking Up What Others Dropped
Shield of Steel is a name I’ve been hearing more often this year. They’re veteran-owned, started in 1998, and they run out of their office on Lamar Avenue. For a long time they were one of those mid-tier firms that did solid work without making a lot of noise.
COVID changed their profile. When larger companies pulled resources from lower-margin contracts (vacant properties, construction sites, smaller commercial buildings), Shield of Steel moved in. They picked up vacant property contracts across Shelby County and, from what I hear, into Nashville and Knoxville as well.
Their pitch is straightforward: competitive pricing, veteran discipline, and a willingness to take on the work that bigger firms consider beneath them. For property owners sitting on empty office buildings or shuttered retail space who needed someone patrolling the lots, that pitch hit exactly right.
I spoke with one commercial real estate manager who switched to Shield of Steel in April after his previous company couldn’t staff his properties consistently. “They’re smaller, yeah. They don’t have the fancy tech that Allied or Securitas has. What they have is guys who show up on time and actually walk the property instead of sitting in the car.” He pays less per hour than he did with his old provider, which matters when you’re managing buildings that aren’t generating revenue.
The cons are real, too. Shield of Steel doesn’t have the deep bench of a national firm. If they lose three guards to illness or quarantine, they’re going to feel it more than a company with thousands of employees. Their technology (GPS tracking, reporting systems) isn’t as polished as what you’d get from the big nationals. For clients who need detailed digital reporting and real-time dashboards, that could be a gap.
Their statewide reach is a genuine advantage, though. Most Memphis-based firms operate within Shelby County or maybe a county or two beyond. Shield of Steel covers Memphis to Knoxville, which makes them useful for companies with multiple Tennessee locations. You can reach them at (202) 222-2225 or through shieldofsteel.com if you want to check their pricing yourself.
GardaWorld: A Quiet Retreat
GardaWorld is a major international player, and their Memphis presence has been notable for years. This year, though, I’ve heard some concerning things.
Multiple sources told me GardaWorld pulled back from certain contracts in the Memphis market during April and May. Not dramatically. They didn’t vanish overnight. They got selective. Some accounts that were up for renewal didn’t get renewed. A few property managers told me GardaWorld cited staffing difficulties and cost increases.
I reached out to GardaWorld’s regional office for comment and didn’t hear back. That’s not unusual for a company that size, but it’s worth noting.
When a major firm pulls back, it creates openings. Smaller companies step in. The question is whether GardaWorld plans to push back into those accounts once conditions normalize or whether this is a longer-term retreat from lower-margin Memphis work. I don’t know yet. Nobody does.
Securitas: Steady, Not Spectacular
Securitas has been doing what Securitas always does: showing up, running their shifts, and not making headlines. Their Memphis operations continued through the pandemic without any dramatic expansion or contraction that I could find.
They held their existing contracts. They didn’t aggressively pursue new ones. A few clients told me Securitas raised rates modestly in April, citing increased costs for PPE and hazard adjustments. The increases weren’t outrageous (one client said about 8%), and most people understood the reasoning.
If you had a Securitas contract going into COVID, you probably still have one, and it’s probably running about the same as before. That’s not exciting, but in a year like this one, boring and reliable is worth something.
Walden Security: The Chattanooga Expansion
Walden Security is based in Chattanooga, and they’ve been expanding westward for a while now. COVID accelerated that push into Memphis.
They picked up several government and institutional contracts in the metro area during the spring. Their background in government security, courthouses and federal buildings, gave them credibility with institutional clients who needed pandemic-specific protocols implemented quickly. They came in with written plans, temperature screening procedures, and PPE distribution systems already figured out.
A contact at a county facility told me Walden won their contract partly because they presented the most detailed COVID safety plan during the bidding process. “Everyone else was winging it. Walden had a binder,” he said.
Whether Walden becomes a permanent fixture in the Memphis market or retreats back east once the pandemic contracts expire remains to be seen. They’re spending money to establish a presence here. That suggests they’re planning to stay.
What This All Means
The pandemic didn’t create the problems in the Memphis security market. It exposed them. Companies with deep roots and strong client relationships weathered the storm. Companies that relied on thin margins and high volume got squeezed.
The firms that gained ground (and I’d put Imperial, Shield of Steel, and Walden in that group) did it by being available when others weren’t. They answered phones, filled shifts, and took on unglamorous work. In this business, that matters more than having a slick website or a Super Bowl commercial.
The next six months will tell us whether these shifts are permanent. Contracts get rebid. Staffing normalizes. Companies that retreated might come back with aggressive pricing to reclaim lost ground.
I’ll check back at the end of the year with an update. If you’re a property manager or business owner with opinions about your security provider’s performance this year, reach out. I want to hear what’s happening on the ground, not just what companies say in their press releases.