Empire Today

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Empire Today, LLC.
Type Private
Founded 1959
Headquarters Northlake, Illinois, USA
Area served U.S. and Canada
Industry Home Improvement
Products Carpet
Hardwood Flooring
Laminate Flooring
Ceramic Flooring
Window Treatments
Area Rugs
Bath & Shower Liners
Website www.empiretoday.com - Empire Today Home Page
Empire Carpet Stories - Official Empire Today Carpet Testimonial Blog
[1]Empire Flooring Stories - Official Empire Today Flooring Testimonial Blog

Empire Today, LLC is a Northlake, Illinois-based home improvement and home furnishing company, specializing in flooring installation, window treatments, and bath renovation products. As of 2008, the company operates in over 50 major metropolitan areas in the United States and Canada, making it the leading provider of home improvements and home furnishings in North America--having served over one million customers.[2] In 2007, Empire Today was named the #1 Specialty Flooring Retailer in the U.S.[3] and one of the Nation's Top 200 Brand Names (ahead of Office Depot, Post Cereals, Hallmark, Panasonic, Johnson & Johnson, Dunkin' Donuts, H&R Block, Intel, and PlayStation).[4] Empire Today is known for making personal sales calls and next day installation, thus eliminating the need for showrooms and retail sales outlets, allowing the company to pass on savings in the form of warehouse-direct pricing.[5][6] Empire Today offers next day installation on carpet, hardwood flooring, laminate flooring, ceramic flooring, window treatments, bath liners, and shower enclosures. The company was founded in 1959 by Seymour Cohen and was a family-run business under its original name, Empire Carpet.[7] The Empire Man has been seen internationally in commercials and other media, has spawned a line of collectible bobblehead dolls, is featured each year in the annual McDonald's Thanksgiving Day Parade[8] , and inspired the Chicago Cubs to declare an official "Empire Day" at Wrigley Field in 2007.[9]

The Empire Man was originally portrayed on television by Lynn Hauldren, who continues to provide the voice of the animated character.[10]

Contents

[edit] Advertising jingle

Empire Today's advertising jingle, which has been broadcast since 1977, is a widely recognized meme.[5] It has been covered in concert by such platinum selling recording artists as Pearl Jam. An Empire commercial is featured in the opening segment of the feature film Wayne's World starring Saturday Night Live alums Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, where the character Benjamin (Rob Lowe) and his partner (Ione Skye) are watching television. The Apprentice contestant Aimee Trottier told Chicago Magazine that what qualfies someone as a true Chicagoan is knowing the Empire Today Jingle by heart.[11]

The jingle is simply a small mixed gender vocal group singing out the digits of the telephone number. The original Chicago-centered version was only the seven-digit number:

"588-2300, Em-pire!"

As the chain expanded nationally, the same tune was used for the seven digits, with a three-note prefix, for the company's toll-free number:

"800-588-2300, Em-pire!"

After the company changed its name to Empire Today, the spoken word "Today" (voiced by Hauldren) has been added at the end of this jingle, over the short drumbeat that has always ended the jingle.

According to the company, this phone number is one of the ten most recognized phone numbers in the United States, and the jingle is among the 7 most recognized in the US.[5][12] Prior to the 800 number, the company had the same telephone number locally in the Chicago area, "five eight eight, two three-hundred", which aired frequently on Chicago superstation WGN-TV.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ == | homepage = www.empiretoday.com - Empire Today Home Page
    Empire Carpet Stories - Official Empire Today Carpet Testimonial Blog
    <ref>BUY .</li> <li id="cite_note-Replacement_Contractor_Magazine-1">'''[[#cite_ref-Replacement_Contractor_Magazine_1-0|^]]''' {{cite web | title=Jingle Fever | url=http://www.replacementcontractoronline.com/industry-news.asp?sectionID=319&articleID=640882 | work=Replacement Contractor Magazine | year=2008 | accessdaymonth=17 January | accessyear=2008 }}</li> <li id="cite_note-FloorBiz.com-2">'''[[#cite_ref-FloorBiz.com_2-0|^]]''' {{cite web | title=Ad Age: Empire Today among top 200 brands | url=http://www.floorcoveringweekly.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=news&mod=News&mid=9A02E3B96F2A415ABC72CB5F516B4C10&tier=3&nid=EBBE00DE182C48B58C8973D73522CB2B | work=Floor Covering Weekly | year=2007 | accessdaymonth=12 September | accessyear=2007 }}</li> <li id="cite_note-Floorcoveringweekly.com-3">'''[[#cite_ref-Floorcoveringweekly.com_3-0|^]]''' {{cite web | title=Empire Today Honored as Nations #1 Specialty Flooring Retailer | url=http://www.floorbiz.com/BizNews/NPViewArticle.asp?cmd=view&articleid=2346 | work=FloorBiz.com | year=2007 | accessdaymonth=23 August | accessyear=2007 }}</li> <li id="cite_note-aboutus-4">^ [[#cite_ref-aboutus_4-0|<sup>'''''a'''''</sup>]]&#32;[[#cite_ref-aboutus_4-1|<sup>'''''b'''''</sup>]]&#32;[[#cite_ref-aboutus_4-2|<sup>'''''c'''''</sup>]] {{cite web | author=Empire Today, LLC | title=About Us | url=http://www.empirecarpet.com/modules/aboutus.aspx | accessdaymonth=2 March | accessyear=2006 }}</li> <li id="cite_note-faq-5">'''[[#cite_ref-faq_5-0|^]]''' {{cite web | author=Empire Today, LLC | title=General FAQs | url=http://www.empirecarpet.com/modules/faqs/faqs.aspx | accessdaymonth=2 March | accessyear=2006 }}</li> <li id="cite_note-6">'''[[#cite_ref-6|^]]''' {{cite web | authors=Chicagoist.com | year=2006 | url=http://chicagoist.com/2006/04/13/ask_chicagoist_whos_the_empire_carpet_guy.php | title=Ask Chicagoist: Who's the Empire Carpet Guy | work=Chicagoist.com | accessdaymonth=29 February | accessyear=2008 ==Advertising== Empire Today's advertising is prevalent in areas serviced by the company, especially throughout [[Atlanta]]; [[Baltimore]]; [[Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham, AL]]; [[Boston]]; [[Chicago]]; [[Charlotte]]; [[Cincinnati]]; [[Cleveland]]; [[Columbus]]; [[Dallas]]-[[Fort Worth]]; [[Denver]]; [[Detroit]]; [[Hartford]]; [[Houston]]; [[Indianapolis]]; [[Kansas City]]; [[Las Vegas metropolitan area|Las Vegas]]; [[Los Angeles]]; [[Memphis, Tennessee| Memphis]]; [[Miami]]; [[Milwaukee]]; [[Minneapolis-St.Paul]]; [[Nashville]]; southern [[New England]]; [[New York City]]; [[Orlando, Florida|Orlando]]; [[Philadelphia]]; [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]]; [[Pittsburgh]]; [[Portland, Oregon|Portland, OR]]; [[Raleigh-Durham]]; [[San Antonio]]; [[San Diego]]; [[San Francisco]]; [[Sacramento]]; [[Scranton, Pennsylvania]]; [[Seattle]]; [[St. Louis]]; [[Tampa]]; [[Toledo, Ohio|Toledo]]; [[Tulsa, Oklahoma|Tulsa]]; [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]]; [[Washington DC]]; and the [[Greater Toronto Area]]. The company's prominent print and television ads feature the recognizable "Empire Man" character. ==Empire Man== The Empire Man was introduced in 1977 as a live action character and later adapted into a popular animated persona that has grown to become a cultural icon.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.weatherforddemocrat.com/business/local_story_199205349.html | title=Empire Today's icon character 'Empire Man' celebrates 30th anniversary | publisher=Weatherford Democrat | date=[[2007-07-18]] | accessdate=2008-01-29 }}</li> <li id="cite_note-7">'''[[#cite_ref-7|^]]''' {{cite news | url=http://www.floorcoveringweekly.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=news&mod=News&mid=9A02E3B96F2A415ABC72CB5F516B4C10&tier=3&nid=565068C65A334A629C751486B6C18FAE | title=Empire Man celebrates 30th anniversary | publisher=Floor Covering Weekly | date=[[2007-08-08]] | accessdate=2008-01-15 }}</li> <li id="cite_note-8">'''[[#cite_ref-8|^]]''' {{cite news | url=http://www.floorbiz.com/BizNews/NPViewArticle.asp?cmd=view&articleid=2299 | title=Empire Today Honored at Historic Wrigley Field - Chicago Cubs Declare "Empire Day" | publisher=FloorBiz | date=[[2007-08-17]] | accessdate=2008-01-15 }}</li> <li id="cite_note-9">'''[[#cite_ref-9|^]]''' {{cite web | title=Chicagoland Memories | work=Lisa's Web World | url=http://members.tripod.com/lisawebworld1/chicagoland2.html | accessdaymonth=2 March | accessyear=2006 }}</li> <li id="cite_note-10">'''[[#cite_ref-10|^]]''' {{cite news | url=http://http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/July-2007/Solo-Acts/Aimee-Trottier/ | title=Aimee Trottier - Chicago | publisher=Chicago Magazine | date=[[2007-07]] | accessdate=2007-11-21 }}</li> <li id="cite_note-11">'''[[#cite_ref-11|^]]''' {{cite news | url=http://www.nbc4.com/money/2156700/detail.html | title=Empire Carpet Ads, Getting the Burnt Popcorn Smell of out Microwaves | publisher=NBC 4 News | date=[[2003-04-24]] | accessdate=2006-03-02 }}</li></ol></ref>

[edit] External links