Gettysburg Flag Works
Maria Coffey
You sell an assortment of flags and flag products. Is the American flag your best-selling product?
It sure is. It makes up about 20% of our business. We have a really broad assortment of flags, but it brings in the majority of our traffic. We offer two branded American Flags – Battle-Tough nylon and Steadfast polyester. Those are definitely our best-selling products.
What are the differences between a nylon and a polyester flag?
The nylon flag is lighter in weight and it’s brighter in color. That’s going to hold up and play nicely in southern states. The polyester flag is a little bit thicker and heavier-duty. That’s the flag you’re going to want to fly when you’re in a windy location or on a mountain top. People will base their purchase on their location, their geography.
Tell us about the process of making a custom flag.
Typically, someone will have a design in mind, but we can certainly help with the graphic design. They’ll usually send us a photo of something they’re interested in putting on a flag. Our graphic artists will mock it up, send it over for the customer to approve, and once it’s approved, it goes into our production queue. The design gets printed and pressed onto the material, and then it goes to our seamstresses for finishing. They’ll put on a header and grommet and sew the sides and the end, and then it’s ready.
The process can take up to four to six weeks because of our production queue, especially during our busy season. We can do rush orders. Fall is a busy time for rush orders.
When is your busy season?
We are busiest in the spring from April to June. People are getting back out into their yards, and they need a fresh flag. That’s also around Memorial Day, with a lot of parades and different events.
How can you ensure the quality of your products so they can be used year after year, especially in an area with four seasons?
We add extra stitching on the American flags we sell. We do four rows of stitching on the fly end, and we do a bit of a box X stitching in the corners because that’s where you’re going to see the wear and tear on a flag. Adding that extra little bit helps flags withstand the elements. Typically, in the industry, a flag will last about 6 to 18 months, anywhere in that range. Our flags will last about two years. But it also depends on whether the flag is out in the elements. If you leave it out during a storm or if you’re bringing them in.
Tell us about the importance of flag etiquette and how you teach that to your customers.
That’s a big part of our business. As a company, we’ve put a lot of time and effort into resources on education and flag etiquette. We offer half-staff notifications, so if you sign up with us, we send you a half-staff alert for your state or across the country for federal events.
The majority of our customer base understands the importance of flag etiquette and following the flag code. They really want to make sure the flag is treated how it should be treated.
What is the protocol if you have a flag on your house and can’t make it half-staff?
We have a black mourning ribbon. It’s not technically in the flag code, but that would be considered acceptable for putting your flag at half-staff when it’s a house-mounted pole. It’s just a streamer, if you will. It hooks on your flagpole and hangs. It’s the same length as the flag and just hangs with the flag.
What’s the biggest challenge in running a specialty store like this today?
A lot of ups and downs. The American flag is pretty steadfast, but there are a lot of ups and downs. The political climate can impact our sales. There is a natural ebb and flow that comes with running a business, so we’ve had our tough times and our easy sailing times.
Has there been a moment when demand for flags spiked unexpectedly?
9/11, of course. Sales for the American Flag went through the roof. Since the conflict in Ukraine, we’ve seen a spike of Ukrainian flags. We saw a spike in sales of the French flag after the terrorist attack there. Any time there is a world event – good or bad – people want to show their support or show their pride. We’re enabling people to show their support, show what they’re passionate about, and we get to be a part of that.
Can you think of a particularly special flag Gettysburg Flag Works has helped design?
On the heels of 9/11, New York State commissioned the design of its official 9/11 flag. It was a collaboration with the state and our graphic artists. Recently, we did a 22-flag to bring awareness to veteran suicide. It’s always special when we can do something like that.
If you could tell people one thing about the significance of flags, what would it be?
It’s a way to show and express your liberty. Express your freedom of speech, express your pride. If it’s your school, your church, your sports team, your country, your city, whatever it is, there’s a flag for it. Or there certainly can be a flag for it. You can put anything on a flag, but it really comes down to what you love.
Tell us about the local veteran organizations you work with and how you give back to your community.
We work with the American Legion. We really try to limit our donations to veteran organizations. We give military and veteran discounts. We’ve worked for years with the Please Remember Me organization. We donate a flagpole to a local veteran and install it for them. We make the hometown hero banners in our community. It’s all part of the community, and it feels great to be a part of it in that regard.
What is the future for Gettysburg Flag Works?
Next year is the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America, so we’ll be doing a variety of other kinds of products. So, keep an eye out for that.
