American Flags in Short Order

Stores such as Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot and Kmart have had trouble keeping flags in stock since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"We've been getting (American flags) in daily, and they sell out in about an hour," said Wayne Mills, manager of the local Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse, at 1807 Chapel Hill Blvd.

Home Depot, 3701 Mt. Moriah Road, in Durham and Wal-Mart, 5450 New Hope Commons Drive, Durham, sold out of flags the Tuesday of the disaster.

Local stores have continued to reorder from flag companies across the nation, but even these companies are finding it difficult to meet the high demand with an adequate supply.

Target Manager Mary Edwards added that shipping dates cannot be guaranteed even if a store is able to order more flags.

But local business owners say most stores will continue to order more flags and predict they will be here sometime in the next week.

Businesses like Top of the Hill, The Shrunken Head and Caribou Coffee are just a few Franklin Street businesses showing their support by hanging a flag in their windows.

Maria Frey, a graduate student in the School of Public Health, said that, to her, the flags represent idealism, not American pride. "The country is not perfect," she said. "The flags remind me that we have to fix what's wrong. They symbolize what we're trying to achieve."

But not everyone on Franklin Street feels the flags send the right message. "I think hanging the flags was a positive action," said a source who wished to remain anonymous. "But I think the underlying message is in support of war, and I don't agree with that."

Christy Moore, owner of Whims Cards and Gifts, brought a flag from home to fly outside her door. Moore said she felt she needed to hang one up to show her support for America.

"We had 12 flags come in Friday, and they were all gone by the afternoon," Moore said.

For the time being, most shelves will remain empty, but there are many online Web sites that still have a supply of American flags -- http://www.

americanflagstore.com and http://www.alamoflag.com.

But as America continues to display its patriotism, finding patriotic memorabilia might prove difficult.

"We've run out of red, blue and white ribbon, t-shirts and any other flag apparel that we had in stock," Edwards said. "We're reordering."

Adrienne Clark contributed to this story.

The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.