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A Banner Year For Business

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By TOM BRENNAN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 14, 2008

BRANDON - John Lynch's family has been stitching swaths of cloth into flags and banners for 23 years, but the most memorable wasn't one of their own.

It wasn't one he sold. It was one that was found.

While members of the Tampa office of the U.S. Secret Service were helping clear debris at ground zero after the Sept. 11 attacks, they discovered a tattered Old Glory and brought it to Lynch's Flags Unlimited off Falkenburg Road to be restored.

Lynch decided not to repair its rips, holes and scars and instead left them as a testament to those who died and those who helped the victims. The flag was cleaned and preserved.

"It was the most heart-wrenching thing we've ever done," he said.

The flag was presented to Gen. Tommy Franks, who in turn gave it to then-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. It will be displayed at the Sept. 11 memorial museum once it is built.

The work so impressed the mayor that he asked Lynch to make a flag for the fifth anniversary of the attack.

During that remembrance in 2006, a 90-by-150-foot flag made at Flags Unlimited was unfurled from the Merrill Lynch building towering over the barren expanse where the World Trade Center once stood.

"It was so emotional to be involved with both of those flags," Lynch said.

Lynch and his wife, Sherry, launched the business in the kitchen of their Valrico home.

Lynch was a salesman and had secured an order for 200 flags from Walt Disney World. The order had to be filled in two weeks, but he was unable to meet that deadline through his usual suppliers.

"My wife was handy with a sewing machine, and that has been the driving force behind the whole thing," he said.

The old sewing machine she used to fill that order is displayed in the hall of the shop at 10236 Fisher Ave.

Lynch and his wife are turning over their longtime duties to the next generation. Son Kevin and his wife, Maria, are assuming day-to-day control of the company.

Kevin Lynch said he's careful to separate business matters from family matters.

"I have to differentiate when he's my dad and when he's a co-worker," he said. "I saw the business grow out of our house. By the time I came in, it was an established company."

The shop is in the midst of its busiest season, between Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. Being an election year, Lynch said, should also help the bottom line.

Politicians love to display the American flag during the campaign season. The company once helped decorate the University of South Florida Sun Dome for a whistle-stop visit by President Reagan.

John Lynch said the nation's mood has been a boon for his industry since the Sept. 11 attacks. "Patriotism has skyrocketed," he said, adding that it has tapered off slightly since the attacks but remains solid.

"There was so much unity and support. Everyone had a flag," he said. "It has leveled off. People aren't displaying their flags but are still purchasing them at a higher rate than ever before."

The company stocks American flags from 4 inches by 6 inches to 30 feet by 60 feet. The staff also makes custom flags, banners and bunting. Prices range from 32 cents to $1,700.

"It all depends on the detail, complexity and volume," Lynch said.

Banners commemorating the achievements of the Brandon High School wrestling team and coach Russ Cozart come from Lynch's shop.

A pennant bearing the emblem of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla made by Flags Unlimited was planted on the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro. One commemorating the National Day of the Cowboy organization is flying on the space shuttle Discovery, courtesy of astronaut Mark Kelly.

For the Lynches, the stories that accompany the flags they make are worth remembering.

John Lynch said he once fielded a call from a woman looking for an American flag. He tried to explain they didn't have any in stock at the time.

"She was crying on the phone. She had lost a brother at Pearl Harbor and a son on 9/11," he recalled. "We took a flag from another order. We had to help her out."

The company sells printed, embroidered and applique flags that represent countries, states, townships, branches of the service and military ranks. The staff also produces flags for boat owners and businesses. They fly on poles, at carnivals and over food courts.

"All from a little place in Brandon. How about that?" John Lynch said with a grin.

The company employs 15 full-time and four part-time workers at the 6,000-square-foot facility, part of a 12,000-square-foot center the Lynches built a decade ago that replaced a bungalow and trailer that housed their operation.

Lynch said there is something special about making flags.

"You are not trying to sell somebody something they don't want," Lynch said. "We find it very rewarding and spontaneous business. You are bringing a lot of joy to people."

FIND OUT MORE

WHAT: Flags Unlimited, makers of flags, banners, pennants, decals, stickers and more

WHERE: 10236 Fisher Ave., Tampa, off Falkenburg Road

WHEN: 8-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday

CONTACT: Call 1-800-989-3524; fax (813) 654-4272

Reporter Tom Brennan can be reached at (813) 657-4528 or tbrennan@tampatrib.com. To view an audio slide show about Flags Unlimited by photojournalist Jim Reed, go to Brandon.TBO.com, Keyword: Flags Unlimited.

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