D.C. area stores pride themselves on selling U.S.-made American flags
Growing up, Lois Manning was surrounded by flags. Every school project she or her siblings did was about them. Her house was easily recognizable as the one flying a giant American flag on a pole out front. Her father raised and lowered it lovingly on all the appropriate occasions.
“He used to say, ‘You tell them that every American needs to fly a flag if they want to live in America,’ ” Manning said. “That’s the sense of pride we grew up with.”
Manning’s grandfather, Fredrick William Haxel, instilled the family’s devotion to the Stars and Stripes. In 1934, he opened F.W. Haxel Co. in Baltimore, selling American-made American flags. It’s a business model that has stuck with the company through three generations of Haxels, the opening of another store in Havre de Grace, Md., and challenging economic times.
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“When you have all these competitors out there, you know, like the dollar stores, importing their American flags and selling them at cheaper prices, it’s hard to keep up,” Manning said.
Last year, the United States imported $3.2 million worth of American flags, according to foreign trade numbers released by the U.S. Census Bureau, including $2.8 million from China. At the same time, the United States exported $486,026 worth of American flags. Mexico was the leading customer, accounting for $256,407 of that amount.
The importing of flags is a recent phenomenon, says Dale Coots, marketing manager for Annin Flagmakers, which has been producing American-made American flags since 1847. After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, demand for flags jumped drastically.
“For a while, American suppliers couldn’t keep up, so they went and bought imports,” Coots said. “Before that, most dollars in American flag sales came from sales to businesses and public institutions like schools.”
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Al Ulmer, owner of National Capital Flag in Alexandria, saw the patriotism-fueled run on flags firsthand.
“When Sept. 11 happened, the peak selling season for flags was winding down,” Ulmer said. “We were so inundated with orders for flags that we had to shut down our Web site, and in some cases it took us a month just to tell people we didn’t have a flag for them.”
Post-9/11 patriotism has continued to give business a boost, he said.
Before joining National Capital Flag, which is a distributor for Annin and other American-made flag manufacturers, Ulmer was a Fairfax County firefighter.
“When I quit the fire department, I thought my emergency days were over,” he said. “But I get phone calls on the weekend all the time from people needing replacement flags or wanting special ones made on short notice.”
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People are most likely to purchase flags between Memorial Day and the beginning of September. The Fourth of July marks the high point of the season. It’s not the same for businesses and government agencies: They fly flags year-round and, therefore, need to replace them more often.
These days, it’s easy to purchase those replacements from overseas, but some places refuse to import Old Glory. And there are plenty of people who refuse to buy American flags from any other country.
For Ulmer, it’s one thing for someone to purchase imported novelty flags, but another thing entirely for someone to buy imported American flags.
“The U.S. flag, because it is a symbol, is different,” he said. “It seems like it should be made by people living here, living the American dream.”
Lyle Lyston, who has worked for the Haxel family for 11 years, agrees that it makes a difference.
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“We are America, and a lot of people want to make sure that the flag they are flying is not a foreign entity,” he said.
“We’ve hit roadblocks, but my grandfather made it through the Depression, so we’ve got to keep people buying American flags,” said Manning, who with her brother and sister runs the store, like her father and grandfather before them. “That was our dream, when we laid our father to rest last year. That’s what we strive for.”
Where to buy
It’s not too late to find an American-made American flag for the Fourth. Here are some stores in the D.C. area that sell them. If you know of others, leave a comment below and let us know.
4708 Wisconsin Ave. NW D.C. 20016
202-363-1610
6134-R Arlington Blvd., Falls Church, Va. 22044
703-534-8250
100 S. Quaker Lane, Alexandria, Va. 23314
800-368-3524
23 Fontana Lane, Suite 107, Baltimore, Md. 21237
800-533-4964
7306 E. Furnace Branch Rd., Glen Burnie, Md., 21060
410-766-6106
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