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Employers parade patriotic emblems
By MELIA BOWIE
© St. Petersburg Times, After the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, employees at Lazzara Yacht Corp. in Tampa put up flags around the office to show their patriotism, but it just didn't seem to be enough, said company executives. "We wanted to do something nice for the employees," said Craig Williams, vice president at Lazzara, which custom builds 80- to 106-foot yachts. As the nation recovers, the company wanted to express its unity, perseverance and national pride. So executives turned to a T-shirt manufacturer and recently distributed shirts to 225 employees bearing the company's logo on a pocket, the phrase "Proud to be an American Yacht builder" on front and "God Bless America" on back. "We thought it was kind of a neat way to show our respect," Williams said. "As soon as we passed them out . . . they (employees) put them on. They were pretty overwhelmed." Across the Tampa Bay area, businesses seeking to show their patriotism are doing likewise: printing up T-shirts, baseball caps, bumper stickers and even CD-ROM business cards designed to inspire and unify those who wear and see them. Since Sept. 11, Adam Solo, co-owner of Groovy Graphics in Pinellas Park, has printed and sold thousands of shirts to companies and vendors seeking to show their spirit in the wake of recent events. "Everybody wants to wear the red, white and blue these days," said Solo, who has created multiple American-themed designs. "Businesses all want to commemorate it in some way." More than 130,000 new bumper stickers are being distributed at Verizon PhoneMarts by Tampa Bay country music station WQYK-FM 99.5, after it changed its logo this month from a guitar with a beach scene inside to one bearing the flag inside its call letters and the phrase: We Love Our Country . . . God Bless America! New T-shirts are also in the works. "There's an incredible wave of patriotism going on in the marketplace," said operations manager Eric Logan, adding that the station has changed the logo on all of its vehicles. "It's really about having everybody support America." More than buttons, ribbons or hard-to-find flags, the appeal of apparel has far exceeded some clothing distributors' expectations. At Clearwater-based Global Impressions Inc., which makes heat-applied graphics and transfers, the phones started ringing a few days after the attacks. Since then, "we ended up having to work seven days a week, 18 hours a day until this week because we just couldn't fill our patriotic orders," said owner Susie Stevenson. "Our shipping went from $1,100 a week to $12,000 a week. Even our European customers were buying things." At Longhorn Steakhouse in St. Petersburg, managers went to Your Logo on Park Street N to print up new shirts for employees. The revamped design features the restaurant chain's logo going through the American flag on front and the phrase "These Colors Don't Run" in red and blue on back. A regional manager for Longhorn Steakhouse was so excited about the idea that the company's seven bay area locations have all ordered the shirts, which arrived Oct. 9. "We're printing up as many as we can -- probably a couple hundred for each store," St. Petersburg manager Todd Dayton said. "It makes you feel nice. I feel good about my company and I feel good about America right now." Generally, manufacturers who offer discounted prices and businesses who donate the shirts to employees and nonprofits are not trying to make money, said Rusty Ross, vice president of marketing for Fox 1 Marketing in Largo. The firm has been producing shirts in addition to creating American-themed CD-ROM business cards. Your Logo in St. Petersburg, where requests for American-themed items is up 20 to 30 percent, printed Longhorn Steak's patriotic apparel at no profit. "We help in our little way I guess," said owner Lou Daugherty, a Vietnam veteran. "It's an interesting turn of events," he said. "People are feeling vulnerable (but) when you wear the colors, you don't feel alone, you feel like part of a whole. It's remarkable, and hopefully, it will stay with us for a while."
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
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