Support Our Soldiers Rally at Flag and Banner
Arkansas business and community show support at 800 W. Ninth Street with care package donations, radio broadcast, and live entertainment. The USO Care Package program wants to bring a touch of home to our troops away. Troops request basics such as toothpaste, playing cards, and stationary. Supporters can't send directly due to security issues. USO care package solves this problem - They collect our soldier's wish lists, accept donations, and then securely deliver the packages.
- Radio Broadcasting from Flag And Banner:
- Bob Robbins with KSSN and Rick Steel with MIX 94.9 broadcast from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.
- Corey Jay with THE EDGE and Jeremy Gunther with KICKIN' 106.7 broadcast from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Entertainment Beth Ann Rannkin, former Miss Arkansas, sings America the Beautiful
- Arkansas' Governor Huckabee speaks at 11:00 a.m.
- Indian Hills Elementary sings Pledge of Allegiance.
- Pizza from Pizza Hut, and Chicken from Popeye's from 3 to 6 p.m.
- Music by Surfin Charlie from 4 to 6 p.m.
 
Posted March 28, 2003
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Patriots Besiege Flag Retailers
Sales increase not as marked as after 9/11
Arkansas Democrat Gazette
By David Smith
Mary Lou Alley thought about ways to back American troops fighting in Iraq. So Alley, a teacher in the Little Rock School District, bought a flag Thursday to put in her garden. "I think we need to very supportive of our troops," said Alley, who purchased her piece of patriotism at Arkansas Flag & Banner. "It's not an easy undertaking for them." Alley is far from alone in her sentiments.
 Sales have doubled at the Arkansas flag maker since outbreak of war with Iraq on March 19, Kerry McCoy, owner of the 28-year-old company, said Thursday. Before that, business was slow -"then boom, it really hit." McCoy said.
While sales have increased nationally retailers and manufacturers said Thursday, the boost appears to be nothing like the unprecedented demand they saw after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Sales of the flags after 9/11 and since the Iraqi conflict began seem to reflect Americans' support. Immediately after the terrorist attacks, polls showed that 91% of the public was behind President Bush in his handling of the situation. Recent polls show about 70 % of the country support the war effort in Iraq. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has recorded a "real significant spike" in the number of flags sold since the war started, but "we've been able to keep up with the demand," said Tom Williams, a company spokesman.
Williams declined to disclose Thursday how many flags have been sold at more than 3,000 Wal-Mart stores int the country. Wal-Mart normally does not release sales figures on specific merchandise, but it did report a the time that it sold 315,000 American flags on Sept. 11 and 12,2001. Some stores sold out of the flags. Williams declined to compare the number of flags sold since last week with the total sold immediately after the terrorist attacks. But McCoy said there is not comparison for her. "After 9/11, everybody at one time wanted a flag," McCoy said "The phones were maddening and we had lines of people out the door. This time, it has been constant, steady but manageable."
At Annin & Co. of Roseland, N.J., which bills itself as the odest and largest manufacturer of American flags Annin the country, Dale Coots said business is up about 25% since the war started. But that ma be seasonal thing, rather than a reaction to the war, she said. "Our busy usually begins in lat April, as people prepare for Memorial day and Fourth of July holidays," said Coots, Annin's marketing manager. "So it's hard to tell if our busy season is starting early or it's because of the war. We've had a tremendous increase in orders for military flags and service banners, at leas double what we usually have. That's definitely because of the war."
But during the two weeks after the terrorist attacks in 2001, Coots said Annin, which was founded in 1847, sold more American flags than it had in the first eight months of the year. "And we could have sold more then if we had them," Coots said. McCoy, who started Arkansas Flag & Banner in 1975, said she expects the interest in flags will probably decline soon. "It never keeps up,' she said. "It's done this a million times and it always drops back."
Executives at Annin, which has plants in New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia, are unsure how long the increase in flag sales will last. "Some of us think sales will keep increasing, but some expect it to drop off," Coots said. "I guess it depends on how long the war lasts. we're praying that it ends soon and all the troops come home safely."
Posted March 28, 2003
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FlagandBanner.com wins 3rd place 2003 International Sign Contest
 "Artful installation of these 18 x 52-ft., large-format mesh banners solved installation problems. Printed with a VETEk 2360 digital printer, the banners could be hung only at the top and bottom because no holes could be drilled into the museum's walls. Webbing, cables and custom-welded hooks counter the force of strong Dallas winds (Signs of the Times. April 2003. p 77)."
The Signs fo the Times Magazine was first published in May 1906 by former Billboard Magazine, Signs of the Times is as much a fixture of Americana as the signage it features. Initially distributed to 4,650 subscribers in 42 American cities, the Cincinnati-based publication set out to educate and inform a community of signmakers about the artistic, technical and business sides of the industry. Today, 18,200 subscribers in 112 countries eagerly anticipate the magazine.
In an inadvertent yet fortuitous way, Signs of the Times has chronicled the nation's growth via its pictorial history. An award from such a historic and prestigious graphic arts publication was certainly an exciting event for FlagandBanner.com in April of 2003.
Posted on April 24, 2003
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FlagAndBanner.com Awarded First Arkansas Flag Flown Over Baghdad International Airport
 Two troops presented the memorable flag with an accompanying American flag and plaque to honor FlagAndBanner for it's support of America's war on terrorism.
The plaque reads "This is to certify that the accompanying American and Arkansas State flags were flown aboard aircraft 63-7857, MSN #GMJJ31832101 at Baghdad International Airport, Baghdad, Iraq 11 Apr 2003. These flags are presented to Arkansas Flag and Banner by the forces deployed to Support America's war on terrorism during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM."
The plaque is signed by Timothy L. Hale, Colonel, USAF Commander, 486th Expeditionary Operations Group.
Posted on May 21, 2003
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Sales of American flags fulfills American Dream
Arkansas Democrat Gazette
 Her story is one of chance, determination and perseverance. Kerry McCoy, who owns the Arkansas' FlagAndBanner.com, began selling American flags door to door in 1975. McCoy who used to wait tables at night just to make ends meet, today owns a company that took in $2 million last year. Her path began after she graduated from fashion merchandising school in Dallas. The country was in a recession and jobs were hard to come by. She found herself at an employment agency who sent her to work for a Dallas company selling flags.
A home sick McCoy returned to Little Rock with no job and no prospects since there was no flag companies in the Little Rock area at the time. She decided to sell American flags herself and start her own company. With $400 in savings, McCoy pringed business cards and order pads and got her city permit. Soon, she was going door to door, selling flags. With her supplier Betsy Ross Flag manufacturing, McCoy began selling flags and building up her stock. For nine years, she worked tow jobs, waiting tables at night to stay afloat. Business eventually picked up and soon McCoy was trying to keep up with her industry.
As the flag industry changes, so did the company's way of doing things. She began custom making banners and flags, then she went to computer-cut vinyl banners before screen-printing took over the industry during the high demand produced by the Desert Storm. Screen-printing brought sales, more income and a desire for a new location. The company is now located at Taborian hall, a vintage building on Ninth Street in downtown Little Rock.
Utilizing the Internet was also a revolutionary step for McCoy. She purchased www.flagandbanner.com in 1995, and now offers more than 8,000 products on the web. Today, Arkansas' FlagAndBanner.com applique and silk screens flags. They can also computer-cut or even print photograph-quality reprints hundreds of feet wide on vinyl banners.
The public can visits the Arkansas FlagAndBanner.com showroom where they can browse through the selection of flags, poles, home decor, garden accents, apparel, jewelry and gifts.
Posted on October 23, 2003
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British Military Friend Compares Reception
James Learmont is a major in the British Commando Brigade and he isn't spending the holiday in the English Channel seaport of Plymouth, but with a close friend Sean Metroka, with whom he stood alongside during the Iraqi conflict.
What they've noticed since returning from the war are sharp differences in the way the war effort has been received on the home front.
Learmont, whose father served in the British military, said flatly: "Nice, good-luck stories don't appear in our press. You didn't see "Support the Troops' banners en masse. It would have been nice," Learmont said in his crisp accent.
"You would feel a lot better, but it's not in the British character to do that. We're very reserved. ... What we never had the opportunity to do was celebrate."
Peace of home - Soldiers get to spend holiday with friends and family - TheUnion.com
Posted November 25, 2003
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