Kerrin Lou Krouse (Kerry) McCoy (1954–)

Kerry McCoy is an Arkansas entrepreneur who founded Arkansas Flag and Banner, Inc. (which later became FlagandBanner.com) in Little Rock (Pulaski County) in 1975. McCoy is publisher of Brave Magazine, longtime blogger of Bannerisms, and host of the podcast and radio show Up in Your Business with Kerry McCoy. She has drawn national recognition for overseeing the restoration of the historic Dreamland Ballroom in Little Rock.

Kerrin Lou Krouse was born on September 27, 1954, in Little Rock to Edwin Ormond Krouse and Sara Lee Rhea Krouse. Her parents met during World War II while her father was serving in the U.S. Air Force, and they married in Walla Walla, Washington. Following the war, the couple settled in Little Rock, where they raised three children. Ed Krouse dabbled in many small businesses, including A-1 Ambulance Company.

In 1959, the family relocated to North Little Rock (Pulaski County). After graduating from North Little Rock Northeast High School, Kerry Krouse attended Miss Wade’s Fashion Merchandising College (which later became Wade College), a one-year vocational school in Dallas, Texas. She graduated during the 1974 recession and struggled to find work in her field. Through an employment agency, she obtained a sales position at a flag company in Dallas. Upon a return visit to Little Rock, she found that the state of Arkansas had no local flag companies and that the Secretary of State’s Office and Little Rock Public Schools purchased their flags from out of state.

In 1975, she moved home to North Little Rock and used her $400 life savings to open Arkansas Flag and Banner. She purchased a business permit, business cards, and order forms. Early days were spent distributing her cards to central Arkansas businesses and selling flags door to door. During the business’s first nine years, she supplemented her income with part-time jobs.

In 1979, she married Ronald Winfield Thompson, and the couple had a daughter. Wanting to stay home to care for her child prompted her to change the business model from outside sales to a telephone, mail order, and catalog sales strategy. The couple divorced in 1982.

In the early 1980s, with the deregulation of the monopoly Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, she took advantage of the lower long-distance rates and began telemarketing. She placed telephone book advertisements in the seven states surrounding Arkansas and spent her days on the phone. During this time, Arkansas Flag and Banner prospered and became her sole financial support.

As the business grew, she hired additional employees and sought larger office space. She asked her mother for one year rent-free in a vacated rental property her mother owned in exchange for minor repairs and paint. In 1984, Arkansas Flag and Banner moved to that property at 1619 Main Street in North Little Rock.

Throughout the 1980s, flag sales increased across America. When her supplier’s turnaround time for flag production lengthened, she identified an opportunity and began manufacturing flags in house. She bought a used industrial sewing machine and hired a seamstress. Arkansas Flag and Banner’s customer base grew.

In 1987, she married Grady Lee McCoy III. They had three sons.

Arkansas Flag and Banner experienced its first patriotic fervor in 1990, when President George H. W. Bush launched Operation Desert Storm against Iraq. To meet the rising demand for American Flags, McCoy expanded the manufacturing side of the business to include screen printing. The company’s success again created a need for more office space, and McCoy began the process of purchasing Taborian Hall on West Ninth Street, the historic home of the Dreamland Ballroom.

In 1995, McCoy entered the emerging world of e-commerce, making Arkansas Flag and Banner the first online flag company and began doing business as FlagandBanner.com. A “press center” was added to the website to collect flag news, controversies, and etiquette, one of the earliest such archives.

The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks changed the flag business again. The instant surge of patriotism prompted customers to overcome their fear of online shopping. Flags sold out across the country. In response to consumer demand, McCoy opened a retail store on the first floor of Taborian Hall, which also sold patriotic decorations, home and garden decor, clothing, jewelry, toys, and more.

As FlagandBanner.com grew, McCoy expanded the workspace by utilizing all of the 22,000-square-foot Taborian Hall building. She relocated the offices to the second floor and moved the shipping warehouse to the rear of the building.

In 2009, she established the nonprofit organization Friends of Dreamland Ballroom to preserve and restore the third-floor Dreamland Ballroom historic venue, the centerpiece of Taborian Hall and the last remaining original building of Ninth Street’s “the Line,” which was once the center for African American businesses and culture in Little Rock. By 2012, Dreamland Ballroom was renovated enough to host the “Dancing into Dreamland” fundraising competition, which had previously been held at the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion. McCoy was featured in the 2017 AETN documentary Dream Land. In 2018 and again in 2020, the U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Park Service awarded grants to Dreamland Ballroom to make it compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

In 2014, McCoy published the first edition of Brave Magazine. It was distributed to 6,000 Arkansas customers. The thirty-two-page bi-annual free publication spotlights acts of heroism, flag news, personal-interest stories, and business advice. Its distribution grew to 50,000 by 2019. Her radio show and podcast, Up in Your Business with Kerry McCoy, first aired on September 16, 2016, on KABF community radio in Little Rock and later began airing on 101.1 The Answer and on YouTube. Through interviews and storytelling, the show encourages business owners to pay forward their experiential knowledge. In 2024, the program began recording in Taborian Hall.

In 2020, McCoy acquired OurCornerMarket.com, an e-commerce site specializing in address plaques, memorials, and lawn decor. In 2021, she acquired Freedom Flags in North Miami, Florida, establishing the first branch of FlagandBanner.com’s production operations outside Arkansas.

McCoy and her company have received a number of awards over the years, including a Blue Chip Enterprise Award from Connecticut Mutual (later Mass Mutual) in 1995, an Arkansas Advertising Federation Bronze Award of Merit in 1997, the Betsy Ross Award from the National Independent Flag Dealers Association for outstanding service in the flag industry in 2015, the Arkansas Preservation Award from Preserve Arkansas for McCoy’s work preserving Taborian Hall and the Dreamland Ballroom in 2019, and Congressional Recognition from U.S. Representative French Hill for McCoy’s efforts to preserve Arkansas history in 2019.

For additional information:
Brandon, Phyllis D. “Kerry Krouse Thompson McCoy.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, High Profile, June 20, 2002, pp. 1D, 5D.

Dreamland: Little Rock’s West Ninth Street. AETN, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjBeT7AyjRE (accessed November 15, 2025). [see Related Web Video in sidebar]

Kazas, Tom. “Banner Years on a $400 Investment.” Arkansas Gazette, August 15, 1988, p. 1C.

Reep, KD. “Planting Her Flag in the 501.” 501 Life, September 4, 2024. https://501lifemag.com/planting-her-flag-in-the-501/ (accessed November 15, 2025).

“Spotlight: How Kerry McCoy Became an Enterprise.” National Independent Flag Dealers Association, March 15, 2023. https://www.nifda.net/blog/how-kerry-mccoy-became-an-enterprise (accessed November 15, 2025).

“Woman Finds Place for Flag Business in Little Rock.” West Little Rock Neighbor, August 8, 1984.