Wow! What a throwback. Today we are throwing it back to 1986 when current ownership was only 15 months underway. Clearly championing the July 4th rush with a bright smile shining on.
The article reads, "It was two days until D-day for Doug Miles, who stood behind the counter of his store Wednesday, taking phone calls and wishing the store had a revolving door. He was expecting business to be especially brisk these two days with Lady Liberty's birthday tied to the Fourth of July celebration.
"Usually we get two or three people a day through that door. This week we've had about eight or 10 a day," Miles said.
The week before Fourth of July is like Christmas for Miles, who owns Flagcraft Inc. at 7000 N. Dixie Highway, Boca Raton. [now 1020 N. Dixie Highway, Boca Raton.]
Sales of flags soar and all sorts of Fourth of July patriots - retirees, students, and homeowners who are giving holiday bashes - troop through the front door.
"We're so glad we found you. We went to all the five-and-dime stores. They don't sell flags there like they do in New Jersey. We couldn't find anyone who sold flags anywhere except you," said Fanny DeGennaro.
She and her husband, Frank, had driven to the store from their home in Deerfield Beach. The couple bought a flag measuring 3 feet by 5 feet to hang in Skipper's, the ice cream parlor and restaurant they run. They threw in some small flags already mounted on short sticks and a nylon "Lady of Liberty" flag.
"This is a big year," said Frank DeGennaro. "Lady Liberty, that's what it's all about. You just don't realize what liberty means unless you've been out of the country for a couple of years."
He remembered that when he returned from the Korean War the Statue of Liberty was the first thing he saw.
Miles is down to his last three-dozen flags imprinted with the face of the Statue of Liberty. They were ordered for the celebration of the statue's 100th anniversary this weekend.
For the 15 months Miles has owned the store, which dates back more than 30 years, he said he has done a brisk business, one that brings in about $275,000 in sales a year. He attributes his success to an increased interest in flying the flag.
"People seem to want to display the flag more. Businesses always them for their openings, and other people just fly them because the idea of America is popular again," he said.
Anyone who has had the least desire to fly a flag can probably find it at Flagcraft. Flags range in size from the tiniest flag mounted on a toothpick selling for 40 cents to the largest flag measuring 10 feet by 15 feet, priced at $190.
Flagpoles ranging in size from 35 feet to an awesome 80 feet can be purchased at the store, and Miles will install the pole and do the rigging necessary to make Old Glory fly.
Miles also sells foreign flags, and he will order flags (that don't have stars and stripes on them) specially made for holidays like Easter and Christmas.
-By Meg Walker"
What a blast from the past. From all of us here now at Flagcraft we solute the years of excellence and joy Flagcraft has brought. Cheers!