New Stanton flag maker helps keep America patriotic

Sales of parade-size, 4-by-6-inch American flags slowed when Fourth of July parades and other patriotic celebrations were canceled because of covid-19.

“We’re still producing flags, but demand is depressed — it’s there, but it’s not like in years past,” said John Gilkey, chief operating officer of Online Stores LLC in New Stanton. The company is one of the country’s largest online sellers of flags and flag poles.

However, Online Stores’ extra stock of the parade-size American flags helped fill the void left by a flag shortage just over a month ago for larger ones, 8-by-12 inches and 12-by-18 inches, usually used for veterans’ gravesites.

Pandemic or not, residents still honor veterans with flags.

In the run-up to Memorial Day, veteran organizations bought flags by the thousands to place at veterans’ gravesites.

Covid-19 restrictions in the spring caused temporary closures of flag vendors in Ohio and suppliers of flag material and poles, according to media accounts and companies there.

In Armstrong County, Kathy Rashlich, director of veteran affairs, scrambled to secure an order of almost 17,000 flags for veterans’ graves throughout the county before Memorial Day.

While flag companies were closed throughout the country during the beginning of the pandemic but re-opened, orders were still behind.

Rashlich’s vendor in Ohio couldn’t fill most of her order. So she looked elsewhere and found a Midwest producer that quoted an “outrageous price” close to $16,000. She had a budget of $8,000 to $9,000.

She was mulling over the price, and considered the county might have to pay more for flags this year.

“My father was a Vietnam veteran, and I very much want to honor him and the others.”

Rashlich scoured the internet more and found Online Stores LLC. She was happy to find the flags, though smaller than what she usually orders. She was able to save the county some money.

Gilkey said all flag supplies have returned to normal, but he’s not sure what the future holds. As a seller of personal protection equipment and other online consumer products, the volume of orders has been brisk.

“We had an unexpected surge in business and, at the same time, there was some downside with flags,” he said. “We can’t predict what is going to happen.”