Arthur Wavell, owner and operator of A Wavell Flagpole in Corpus Christi, says the perfect match of his last name and his business is just a happy coincidence. Photo by Carrie Robertson Meyer/Third Coast Photo
The best part of being in the flag business is watching the U.S. flag run up a flagpole and unfold in the breeze. It’s the snap of the fabric in the wind and the beauty of the red, white and blue against a Coastal Bend sky.
Of course, you don’t have to be in the flag business to experience the pride of flying the stars and stripes. If you call Arthur Wavell of A Wavell Flagpole LLC in Corpus Christi, you can fly Old Glory, Texas’s Lone Star or any other flag on a flagpole or outrigger one of your own.
“You can have a lot of fun with a flag pole,” Wavell told Corpus Christi Business News. “You can fly a lot of different flags. There are international, states, holiday, historical, military, collegiate and professional sports flags, just to name a few. You can have a custom flag made with your family crest or your company logo.”
State and country flags remain the most popular.
Arthur first got started when he and his father, Ken Wavell, bought some flag kits at an auction in Beeville. Ken Wavell had been encouraging his son to get into the flag and flagpole business as there were no other businesses of this type in Corpus Christi.
“I found out that President George Herbert Walker Bush was coming to Beeville to go quail hunting,” Wavell said. “I traveled up and down the highway that leads to the ranch where he was going hunting, selling and installing flag kits. I quickly sold out of flag kits and everyone had their flags flying when the presidential motorcade passed by.”
Early in 1991, the Desert Storm conflict began and flags were in high demand. Wavell drew up flyers and placed them at his dad’s hardware business.
“He told me I could place a flyer in customers’ invoices that were being mailed,” Wavell said. “I did the first half of the alphabet but never got to the second half, as I started selling flagpoles.”
His first flagpole was a custom pole designed by his father, upon which Wavell has improved over the years. While he also sells aluminum and fiberglass flagpoles, the custom flagpole remains a best seller.
The business began with mostly residential customers. Commercial business has grown steadily with customers demanding taller poles and bigger flags. A Wavell Flagpole installed the 70-foot aluminum flagpole at the Shell Station on Interstate 37 at the George West exit. The tallest flagpole he has repaired is the 175-foot cell phone tower at River Hills Country Club in Corpus Christi.
“It only bothers you if you look down,” Wavell said when asked about working from that height. “I don’t really think about it. I just look at the work I’ve got right in front of me. The only thing that makes it difficult is the wind.”
Coastal winds lend both the allure and vulnerability to a flag, no matter how tough the material. Wavell sells nylon and polyester flags, both lightweight and heavyweight, for any weather condition. After Hurricane Harvey hit the Coastal Bend, the company saw a significant increase in the demand for installation and repair of flagpoles.
A Wavell Flagpole LLC sells new and used flagpoles along with their supporting hardware. The company also sells flags, both custom and ready-made, and performs installations and repairs of flagpoles, both commercial and residential. Wavell is in the flag and flagpole business on a full-time basis. He does not send out a crew to complete the flagpole installations and repairs. He performs the work himself, work he very much enjoys.
“It’s a great feeling when you put up the American or Texas flag,” Wavell said. “I enjoy seeing the flag flying. It makes me proud. There are more flags flying here than when I started my business.”
Former President George H.W. Bush would most likely agree.
A Wavell Flagpole LLC has a retail store of flags and accessories at 714 Peabody Ave. in Corpus Christi. For more information, call (361) 814-9283 (WAVE) or visit awavellflagpole.com.
