The Sewing Mom

When we moved into our house a year ago, one of the items to go immediately on our home improvement to do list was to get new carpet in all of the bedrooms. Let me just be up front and say, our home improvement list is fairly long, so we haven’t yet gotten around to getting new carpet. I think about it a lot, especially when I’m watching television and I hear the Empire Carpet jingle, you know the one, “800-588-two-three-hundred, Empire Today”. If you’re like me, you have that number memorized!

Did you know that Empire Today, a company that was started as a family business in 1959, was recently named one of the the top 200 Brand Names in the United States? According to Wikipedia, Empire Today was also named the #1 Specialty Flooring Retailer in the U.S in 2007. Not bad for a company with such humble beginnings.

What began as a small, family-based business in Chicago, has grown into one the largest home improvement companies in the U.S. They now operate in over 50 cities in the United States and Canada. Empire Today specializes in flooring installation, including carpet, hardwood, and ceramic flooring. Of course, flooring is not the only thing they do. Empire also does window treatments and bath and shower liners for bath renovation. Their goal is to make it easy, fast and affordable, whether you’re buying window blinds or plush carpet.

Besides the great value and next day service, I think the biggest advantage of Empire Today is the in-home demonstrations. With today’s busy schedules, it’s nice to know that you can look at flooring in the comfort of your own home. It might also help to see the color choices in your own home’s lighting. How many other companies allow in-home shopping when it comes to home improvement?

Personally, when I think of Empire Today, I think of the Empire Man, and I had no idea that he’s been around since 1977! He began as a live action hero, before becoming an animated character. He has definitely become a recognizable icon of Empire Today, representing value, customer service and next-day installation. You don’t even need to hear the jingle to know who he is, he’s synonymous with Empire Today. He has become so famous, there are even Empire Man bobbleheads! I found it very interesting to learn that Lynn Hauldren the man portraying the Empire Man, began as an advertising copywriter, but when Empire Today couldn’t find an actor for their commercials, the company owner at the time, Seymour Cohen, asked Hauldren to play the part. The rest as they say, is history.

In case you’re not familiar, here is one of the Empire Today commercials.

One final video. This video is from 1979 when the company was known simply as Empire. This is also before the company went national and so you’ll notice the phone number is only 7 digits, a Chicago area number. See if you can find any other things that are different from the Empire Today commercials we’re all familiar with today. Listen to the jingle too, there is a slight change that came later, can you figure it out?