What started in a humble office in Queens, NY, as a one-person operation now has more than 50 employees in a 30,000-square-foot facility that supplies more than 6,000 branded flags, banners, tents and display products to the promo industry.

In 1994, Matt Quinn, founder of Quinn (asi/80228), was a recent college graduate helping his father manage apartment buildings on Long Island. As he worked out of office space in his family’s Queens funeral home, Quinn looked for other business opportunities and decided to try his hand at selling flags and banners since they were lightweight and highly marketable.

Matt Quinn started Quinn (asi/80228) 30 years ago in Queens, NY.

He purchased the encyclopedia-sized Thomas Register, a manufacturers directory for sourcing product, and became a flag dealer for Annin & Co., a flag supplier in New Jersey. He then created a product brochure and rented a mailing list of 5,000 American Legion and VFW posts plus other military associations.

“I was extremely motivated and really believed in what I was doing and the products I was offering,” says Quinn.

By 1996, demand was high enough that Quinn was printing and mailing 250,000 32-page color catalogs across the country twice a year and had enlisted his brother’s help to design and launch an early e-commerce platform.

As Quinn Flags continued to grow, Quinn moved operations to Glen Cove, NY. There, he rented a warehouse and started selling wholesale, with a product lineup that included American flags, country and state flags, military flags, historical flags, flagpoles and flagpole accessories.

The company’s first product brochure from 1994.

When terrorists killed more than 2,600 people at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, including Quinn’s close friend, “it only gave me greater passion to supply patriotic products that meant so much to so many,” he says.

By 2004, Quinn was ready to move the company, which was manufacturing much of its own products, to a larger facility in another region.

“I felt it was best, both personally and professionally, to leave the fast-paced New York life and move to Hanover, PA, just outside historic Gettysburg,” says Quinn. “By 2012, as our customer base grew, I had purchased a second building and had 35 staff members. Four years later, we bought a third 30,000-square-foot building so we could focus on digital printing of soft signage. In 2019, we streamlined operations and moved everything under one roof.”

The company now has more than 50 employees in Hanover, PA.

The company, now called Quinn, employs more than 50 people and, in addition to flags and banners, offers trade show displays, tents, table covers and outdoor signage. To celebrate three decades of business, Quinn will soon host a company-wide potluck and monthly parties, create photo and brochure displays, and oversee a social media campaign.

The company designed a special anniversary logo to mark the milestone.

“My goal today is the same as it was 30 years ago,” says Quinn. “Make things simple.”