BEACHWOOD - Growing up in Mantoloking, Jim Kuhl enjoyed the Shore area’s many water sports — and soon also discovered an affinity for American flags, which he successfully turned into East Coast Flag & Flagpole Inc., the Beachwood business he started 26 years ago.

“I grew up along the beach and was very into surfing and fishing,” recalled Kuhl, 52, a Toms River resident who graduated from Stockton University with a degree in sociology. While looking for a job in social work after graduation, “I was bartending part-time and met a guy who owned a flag and flagpole company in Monmouth County,” he said. “I started working there part-time but ended up managing their operations, installing flagpoles and basically running everything. I loved the patriotic aspect of it and thought it was an interesting business.”

Intrigued, “I decided to launch my own flagpole business in 1996 with money I got from selling my custom Jeep and motorcycle and from a small loan that I took from my grandmother,” Kuhl said. “I started out renting a 1,000-square-foot office space on Route 9 in Beachwood, but I didn’t have enough room for all of my products, so I ended up building an oversized storage space in the backyard of my then-house in Lavallette.”

Today, in the larger space he moved to in 1999 (which includes a 3,500-square-foot retail showroom and a separate 2,500-square-foot flagpole storage barn), “we sell, install, maintain and repair flags and flagpoles,” Kuhl said. “American and military flags are the most popular flags we sell, but we also offer decorative and specialty flags, such as those commemorating different seasons or sports teams, as well as custom banners and flags based on a customer’s own artwork.”

According to Kuhl, “about 70% to 80% of the flags we sell are American and/or military (including a new flag for Space Force), and the remaining 20% to 30% are festive or novelty flags.”

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From house flags to 100-foot poles

Servicing New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, and southern New York, “our customers are both residential and commercial — from homeowners and veterans to organizations such as townships, school systems and larger companies that want to show their patriotism with a flagpole on the property,” Kuhl said.

“We’ve done installations for all locations of the Lester Glenn Auto Group — including a number of 100-foot flagpoles, some of the largest in the state — as well as jobs for many different townships, landscapers and architects. We source our flags from several big manufacturers in New Jersey, Virginia and Pennsylvania,” he added, “and we manufacture custom flags right in our own shop using high-tech equipment.”

Kuhl said that residential customers will find a broad range of products and pricing — “from a $30 to $40 pole kit for the side of your house all the way up to a large pole and flag for your property that costs $3,000,” he said. “While these large products used to be primarily for big businesses, some people have huge homes on the ocean and need a 30- to 40-foot flagpole to match the scale of their property.”

Regardless of the flag’s size, Kuhl said that the harsh Shore-area environment can create a lot of wear and tear. “If people take their flags down during storms, they’ll last about a year, but they may only last half that time in oceanfront or riverfront locales,” he said.

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Among industry trends, Kuhl said that patriotism has gone through cycles over the years.

“9/11 was a bittersweet time — our business was great, but of course nobody wants business from a tragedy like that,” Kuhl said. “People were buying anything red, white and blue or patriotic that they could get their hands on and it was a huge boon for our business, but we were exhausted from working long days seven days a week to fulfill demand.”

However, he noted, “the patriotism people showed at that time was incredible, especially among younger people. Prior to 9/11, our average customers were in their 60s and 70s, but after 9/11 we saw a lot more people in their teens, 20s and 30s. I think that 9/11 was a huge eye-opener for the younger generation in particular and the demand for flags went on for a good one to two years after 9/11.”

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More recently, “we’ve seen a big rise in patriotism during the last few elections,” he said. “There’s so much going on in the country and those who are proud to be American have been showing that the last few years.”

Kuhl said flag-making materials have remained consistent over time. “In the last two decades, the main flag materials are an all-weather outdoor nylon and a heavier, woven, two-ply polyester designed for windy, waterfront areas,” he said. “On the custom flag side, we’ve seen different dye processes where the ink is dyed right into the material to prevent cracking, peeling and fading, so there have definitely been some technological advances there.”

As for challenges, Kuhl said that his team of five to eight people is busy doing as many as 30 flag and flagpole jobs a week in the height of the busy summer months, “so I’m always thinking about jobs, scheduling and orders and working to stay on top of the business,” he said.

The pandemic added a new layer of difficulty into the mix. “We have amazing relationships with our manufacturers because we’ve been here for so long, but prices have gone up and standard flags that we used to get easily are now four to six weeks out,” Kuhl said of shipping delays that have required him to be resourceful by buying in bulk and pre-ordering out of season. “We’re at the mercy of our manufacturers and things are slowly getting better, but they’re not back to normal yet.”

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Online providers can also prove challenging. “It’s hard to compete with Amazon, which delivers products right to your house, but a large number of people still want to do business in person,” he said. “They appreciate the quality of our products and the fact that they can trust us and that we’re here if they need anything.”

Regarding brick-and-mortar competitors, “there are only a couple in the state who do what we do and we know each other well,” Kuhl said. “We each have our own niche and specialties and we all have great working relationships and mutual respect for one another.”

At the end of the day, Kuhl loves what he does and enjoys a creative challenge.

“I love the custom installations we do most,” he confirmed. “I specialize in dock mounts, rooftop mounts and other unique installations and those types of out-of-the-ordinary jobs get my brain spinning and keep me going.”

As for the joys of owning a flag, Kuhl speaks from first-hand experience.

“I have a flag and they’re awesome,” he said. “America is a phenomenal country and everyone should fly a flag to show their patriotism and support.”

East Coast Flag & Flagpole Inc.

Location: 101 Pennant Ave., Beachwood

Phone: (609) 441-0888

Owner: Jim Kuhl

Founded: 1996

Website: eastcoastflag.com

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: East Coast Flag & Flagpole in Beachwood NJ: Where patriotism sells