Sept. 14, 2001 – American flags have flown off the shelves at stores across the territory, as they have nationwide since Tuesday's terrorist attacks, several retailers said Friday.
"I have less than a handful left," Hal Ulrich, manager at Island Marine on St. Thomas, said. He and others said residents are heeding the national call to show patriotism and solidarity by displaying the flag.
"They started moving the afternoon of the problem," Larry Benson, a clerk at Budget Marine on St. Thomas, said.
At Gallows Bay Hardware on St. Croix, clerk David Thomas said he has had more than a hundred calls this week from people wanting to know if he had any flags in stock. He did, but they quickly sold out.
Kate Swan, an owner of St. John Hardware, said she and her partners had talked about stocking up for the Fourth of July but didn't do so. Now, they wish they had, because residents want to buy them. She said she expects a few flags she begged from a St. Thomas store to arrive shortly, but those ordered from her supplier will take weeks to get here — especially with the interruption in postal and other package deliveries from the mainland.
"And they’re backed up," Swan said of her supplier.
Flags are starting to pop up on poles, buildings and lawns around the territory. Thomas said he spotted about 20 during his four-block walk to work.
"I think they want people to realize we are part of American society," Thomas said of those who are showing the colors.
Vilmagda Edwards at Caribe Do-It Center on St. Croix said she wished she had a flag to display to show support for the people that died. "And I want peace," she added.
