Barrington Gifts of Distinction Using Obama "Stimulus" to Benefit Charities and Their Supporters - "Air Force One Carry-On" is Doing Good for Barrington and Non-Profits
President Obama's personal carry-on bag for Air Force One trips has been generating more sales for Dallas-based Barrington Gifts of Distinction, which is offering a personalized gifts fund-raising proposition to help charities in the current depressed economy. When Time magazine recently featured a photo of a White House aide carrying Barrington's vegetable-tanned leather Captain's Bag off the plane, Barrington's orders began to "take-off." Pleased by strong sales in the current down economy, Barrington started a program that the President would certainly approve: At http://www. Barrington-Direct. com, shoppers who have an authorized access code for participating charities, receive dealer wholesale pricing (50% off retail), and Barrington donates 30% of all sales dollars to participating charities. The President received his Captain's bag while attending the Presidential Debate at Ole Miss University during his Fall 2008 election campaign. One little bag can do a lot of good when it is in the right man's hands.
Dallas, TX (Vocus) July 20, 2009
President Obama's personal carry-on bag for Air Force One trips has been generating more sales for Dallas-based Barrington Gifts of Distinction, which is offering a personalized gifts fund-raising proposition to help charities in the current depressed economy. When Time magazine recently featured a photo (http://tinyurl. com/77o3eb) of a White House aide carrying Barrington's vegetable-tanned leather Captain's Bag off the plane, Barrington's orders began to "take-off." Pleased by strong sales in the current down economy, Barrington started a program that the President would certainly approve: At http://www. Barrington-Direct. com (http://www. Barrington-Direct. com), shoppers who have an authorized access code for participating charities, receive dealer wholesale pricing (50% off retail), and Barrington donates 30% of all sales dollars to participating charities.
The President received his Captain's bag while attending the Presidential Debate at Ole Miss University (http://tinyurl. com/czks5j) during his Fall 2008 election campaign. One little bag can do a lot of good when it is in the right man’s hands. Barrington's founders, Gil Sheehan and David Gowdey, are pleased by this celebrity "endorsement." "My favorite part of the photo is the hang tag that says 'The President.' That was his doing," says Gowdey. The small, privately held, $5M/year company supplies premium, personalized leather gifts and writing instruments to the consumer and business market, and like most small businesses, has had to innovate to survive in this economy. Corporate event and gift budgets are being cut, and several of its blue-chip customers such as Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns, no longer exist.
Because Barrington owns and operates its own manufacturing facility and sells factory-direct with an authorized access code, it can afford to donate 30% of its gross sales from its personalized gift website (http://www. barrington-direct. com) when charities sign up to be a beneficiary. Any charity that participates receives a unique access code to share with its donors/constituents. The code allows its constituents to shop the e-store and receive 50% off retail prices while Barrington pays 30% of each sale to the corresponding charity. Most "part of the proceeds" promotions benefiting charities only pay 5% to 10% of the net profit to the charity. Thus, Barrington's 30% of gross sales dollars "donation" is a compelling offer to non-profits looking for new ways to raise money in today's difficult giving environment. To date, The First Tee (access code FTHQ), United Cerebral Palsy (access code 1097), Habitat for Humanity (access code 1007), the Visiting Nurse’s Association (access code 1100) and a Dallas inner-city school for impoverished children/families are participating. In a month's time, The West Dallas Community School (access code 1009) has received $10,000 from $30,000 of product sales through their participation in Barrington's consumer-direct program.
Barrington's business clients include Microsoft, PGATOUR, Aflac, Disney, Coca-Cola, Sprint, Nike, McKesson, SAP, Adobe, Yahoo, Marriott, Roche, Kindred Health Care, Merrill Lynch, U. S. Department of Defense, Big XII Conference, Shell Oil, Ritz-Carlton Club, NASDAQ, The Executive Leadership Council and numerous other blue-chip companies and non-profit organizations.
Barrington entered the corporate gifts (http://www. barringtongifts. com) marketplace eighteen years ago as a manufacturer of upscale one-of-a-kind executive gifts. Initially providing high quality writing instruments and exquisite leather goods, founders David Gowdey and James Sheehan quickly developed a world class workforce and a worldwide presence. They founded Barrington on four firm principles – creating hand-crafted gifts of unparalleled quality, providing their employees valuable growth opportunities, improving the communities in which Barrington operates, and developing mutually beneficial, long-lasting relationships with their clients.
Non-profit organizations interested in participating in Barrington's fund-raising program or media inquiries are encouraged to contact Wes Boyd (Director of Marketing/Sales), at 214-528-3556, or email.
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