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Community Corner

Crown Trophy Puts Your Name on It

Frank and Pat Larkin build trophies and more at their Montgomery award shop.

Frank Larkin found a product that he likes well enough to sell. It wasn't the easiest thing for Larkin, a former corporate-world sales guy. 

After leaving sales management, Larkin looked at multiple start up companies. But it wasn't selling garage doors that made him bite the bullet. No, it turned out to be trophies that got him excited enough to go into business by himself. 

In 2004, Larkin and his wife, Pat, opened Crown Trophy at 2108 Baseline Rd. off of Rt. 30 in Montgomery. 

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"I realized I didn't want to work for someone else," said Larkin, who spent years in the sanitation and chemical field and previously worked for Johnson's Wax.

So why trophies?

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He says the business is really a fluke. In sales, he explains, "You get a product that you like and you go with it."

At the store, the Larkins sell and build trophies and a whole lot more. A large backroom is stocked with shelves of boxes full of metals and trophy components. A smaller room in the very back of the store acts as a mini-machine shop with drill presses and arm saws. 

Larkin says that people don't usually realize that the store, a Crown Trophy franchise, works on small custom orders in house. The small operation of four employees handles the orders and builds many of them in the backroom. 

It's a hands-on job, Larkin said. Whether engraving plaques or clipping medals on ribbons, orders are built to customer standards. 

The store is focused on youth sports and many of their larger orders are for soccer tournaments, but they also deal with almost anything that you can put your name on. They build trophies, customize plaques, embroider shirts, silk screen and sell promotional products. 

Pat, a retired marketing teacher at West Aurora High School, pointed out a stack of t-shirts for DECA students who will attend a conference in Orlando, FL later this month. 

Many of the store's loyal customers are school and park districts, but corporate sales also play a large role. Larkin estimates that 15 percent of his business is retail and the rest is business to business. He adds that most people off the street have not purchased a trophy. However a mom buying a trophy for her straight A student isn't a bad idea, he said.

Larkin mentioned that he wasn't ready to retire when he started the business and as he rattles off different ways to engrave and carve into a variety of materials, it is apparent that he found the right stuff to sell. 

Visit at www.crowntrophy.com/store-121. Call them at 630-897-5030 or 630-897-5646. 

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