How Kerry McCoy Became an Enterprise
This multimedia empire began with $400 and a young woman brave enough to knock on doors. Orchestrating web, retail, non-profit, written and radio forums, Kerry McCoy Enterprises now umbrellas FlagandBanner.com, Dreamland Ballroom, Brave Magazine, and Up in Your Business radio talk show.
Originally from North Little Rock, Arkansas, Kerry McCoy moved to Dallas Texas in 1974. Through an employment agency placement, she began selling flags for a company called Betsy Ross Flag Girl. During a visit to Little Rock, Kerry checked the Yellow Pages to see the feasibility of opening her own flag company back home. To her surprise, Little Rock was virgin flag territory.
In 1975, Arkansas Flag and Banner was started with Kerry’s $400 life savings. She used that money to purchase a business permit, business cards and order forms. Many of the early days were spent distributing her cards to Central Arkansas businesses and selling flags door-to-door. With a rise in gas prices Kerry found it necessary to move her company towards a telemarketing sales strategy. She now spent most of her days making phone calls rather than in her car.
In 1979, she became a new mother, which presented an opportunity to reinvent her company again. A mail order and catalog sales strategy was enabling her to operate from home. It was during this time that Arkansas Flag and Banner began to solely support Kerry. Soon additional employees were hired and an office was needed.
Knowing her mother had some vacant rental property, she asked her for a rent-free year in exchange for minor repairs and paint. Her mother agreed. Arkansas Flag and Banner now had the needed office space for growth.
And grow it did! As sales volume increased, her vendor’s production time of custom-made flags grew longer and longer. A manufacturing niche in the market became apparent. Kerry bought a used industrial sewing machine and hired a seamstress. Custom flag delivery time shrank and customer base grew. It was a win-win for everybody.
The business experienced its first patriotic fervor in 1990 with the announcement of The Gulf War by President George H.W. Bush. Flags were in high demand and scarce. To meet this new consumer demand for US flags, Kerry expanded her manufacturing to include screen printing. Once again necessity dictated more space.
In 1995, while attending a luncheon, she heard about a new sales platform called the Internet. Within days Arkansas Flag and Banner entered the emerging Dot Com community. The business is now known worldwide as simply FlagandBanner.com with roughly 30% of current sales coming from e-commerce and over 22,000 products available to buy online.
The beginning of e-commerce was not easy. Consumers were leery of entering their credit card information online. But on 9.11, with the fall of the Twin Towers in New York, America came together under one flag…. The American Flag. The fear of online shopping fell with the instant surge of patriotism. Flags sold out across the country. In response to consumer requests for Red White and Blue on everything, a retail store on the first floor of the Taborian Hall aka Flag and Banner’s headquarters was opened to the public. This boutique boasts “More Than Just a Flag Store” with patriotic decorations, home and garden decor, clothing, jewelry, toys and more. All inventory was made available to purchase online, making FLAGandBANNER.com a global store.
In the true spirit of entrepreneurship, Kerry looks for opportunities everywhere. During the Flag and Banner staff meetings, she noticed there was always someone sharing a customer’s story of inspiration. It happened with such regularity, that she began to think AFB should share the stories with other people through a self-published magazine. In the fall of 2014, the first bi-annual edition of Brave was distributed to 8,000 flag customers statewide in Arkansas.
Due to her leadership, community involvement, longevity in a growing business and her uncanny approachability, Kerry is often asked business advice. One week it happened 3 times. After leaving the third encounter, Kerry had an epiphany. “Pay it forward!” She leapt into action and contacted a public radio station pitching an hour long talk show that focuses on mentoring small business owners and people that aspire to own their own businesses. The radio station immediately opened a spot for this refreshing forum and in September of 2016 ‘Up in Your Business with Kerry McCoy’ first aired. Each week she and a guest engage in conversations of curiosity and storytelling with live callers and real world advice.
During the past four decades, under Kerry’s direction, Arkansas’ Flag and Banner grew from a sole proprietor to a multi-million dollar distributor, retailer, manufacturer, and internet retailer with a multimedia presence. The product of this explosive expansion resulted in a slight identity crises. The businesses were connected, but not joined. In 2017, Kerry rebranded all of the different endeavors under the umbrella Kerry McCoy Enterprises.
Over the summer of 2020, when everyone feared businesses would close, Kerry bought a new online business, OurCornerMarket.com, to dovetail with the FlagandBanner.com brand.
Ever in growth-mode, Kerry purchased About Flags in December of 2020. About Flags was a Pennsylvania enterprise that garnered FlagandBanner.com a larger customer base.
On September 1, 2021, Kerry again grew her empire through the acquisition of Freedom Flags. The Miami-based company added a second location and dedicated seamstresses to the efficiency of Flagandbanner.com.
Stay tuned for what's next!