Ukrainian flags in demand

Orders for the fabric for Ukrainian flags have skyrocketed since Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine in late February, and flag makers are struggling to keep up with demand. That’s good news for Mike Glaser, a principal of New Jersey-based Glaser Mills, which processes fabric for flag makers around the country. 

In an ordinary week, Glaser Mills might see requests for about 1,000 yards of yellow and blue fabric, and almost none of them are for the Ukrainian banner. But demand has more than tripled—to 18,000 linear yards of Ukrainian colors from Feb. 23 to March 9 compared with 5,000 for the same period last year—since Russian army columns rumbled across the Ukrainian border.

Ordinarily, the company produces three to six months’ worth of flag fabric at a time and gradually uses up that supply, Glaser said, but the sudden upturn in Ukrainian blue and yellow is forcing more of a “just-in-time” approach to production. “We are not seeing a reduction, only an increase in demand and I’m not sure when it will end,” he says. “People are going out to protest. We’re already seeing repeat orders from customers.”