I’m having a blast planning this new bar business, Kerry Lou’s LLC, at Flag and Banner.
It probably won’t make much money, but I don’t believe it will lose any either. It’s more about having fun and business creativity. As my long-time friend and actress Joey Lauren Adams says about her new bar/restaurant in Hot Springs, Arkansas, “I want a sexy bar” and I think I do, too.
FlagandBanner.com resurrected Little Rock’s landmark pole with a flag-raising ceremony. It was a BIG moment for us, for the city, and for everyone who enjoys the sight of Old Glory flying freely once again over Taborian Hall.
FlagandBanner.com is celebrating 50 years in business! Join us at our week-long birthday party at our Little Rock, AR store with 50% off all in-stock items.
As the owner of a flag company with locations in both Arkansas and Florida, I recently sent a letter to…
Earlier this year I blogged about traditional retail being passe and, on my daughters suggestion, that I was going to reduce the inventory in our Flag And Banner (FAB) retail store. Well, since then I have decided to go even further.
During and around the COVID-19 pandemic, I purchased three businesses from women in their 70s who were ready to retire. Two were flag companies, which I merged into FlagandBanner.com, and the third was OurCornerMarket.com, a website specializing in plaques and memorials. At the time, I was in my late 60s and thought, “I will never retire” …
I’ve had a wonderful and productive couple of weeks in Miami! We gave our FlagandBanner.com sign a fresh new look and, even more exciting, landed a BIG order with the Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office.
Can you believe this marks my 21st year of blogging? Some of my readers aren’t even that old!
Lacking formal college training in business, I attended numerous AIDC seminars and SBA workshops to learn and grow. At one such seminar, the speaker made a statement that has stuck with me ever since: “If your business isn’t changing every 10 years, expect to be out of business in another 10.”
How could I not write about the election results? But wait …
When you order a custom flag or banner from FAB, chances are one of these lovely ladies handmade it.
I am not sure I would know how to go about starting a flag business today. 50 years ago (yes, next year we celebrate 50 years), business was simpler. You identified a need, then filled the need by either door-to-door sales or a store front. And advertising was simpler, too, with only 3 mediums to choose from: radio, tv, or newspaper. All that seems archaic by today’s standards.
Should American flags be made in America? The National Independent Flag Dealers of America (NIFDA) thinks most people would say “Yes” to that question. That is why we went to Washington DC during National Flag Week to speak for the American people who are currently being duped by online false advertisers who claim their flags are American made, when they are really a Chinese import.
Surprising to many, election years are not good for the flag business. Sure, we sell bunting to campaign offices and pep rallies, but that doesn’t make up for the overall downturn in annual sales …
I started my radio show Up in Your Business to pay forward my earned business knowledge. Business principles are the…
Recently, I decided to use AI to help me reflect on FAB’s year-end sales and write some ad copy. This is what I sent ChatGPT…
It’s that time of year again: time for the flag industry’s annual convention. Yes, flag makers have conventions too and…
It may seem too early to start planning for Christmas. But for us retailers, it is late. Most retailers buy their holiday stock in January, with a late fall delivery schedule. Though FAB doesn’t have all its holiday inventory on display yet, we still need to start planning our advertising campaigns, buying ad space, and ordering print material for our December mailers.
We’ve had 5 months of a writer’s strike, 2 months of talks with auto workers and, according to CNN on Wednesday, more than 75,000 employees of Kaiser Permanente walked off the job, marking the largest healthcare worker strike in US history. And don’t forget, the actors are still on strike, and after this week’s brouhaha in Washington, I guess you could say the House of Representatives are too, creating the biggest chaos and a potential government shutdown.
Being a flag maker of 40+ years, I’ve witnessed a lot of redesigning of country and state flags. For instance,…
