Crown Worldwide Group

Crown Worldwide Group
Privately owned
Industry

Transportation, Relocation services, Logistics, Records Management, Storage, Facilities Management

Founded 1965
Founder James E. Thompson
Headquarters Global Headquarters
Hong Kong
American Headquarters
Los Angeles, California
EMEA Headquarters
Prague, Czech Republic
Area served
 Worldwide
over 250 locations, 55 countries
Key people
 James E. Thompson
Founder & Chairman
Ken Madrid
Chief Financial Officer & CEO Asia-Pacific
David Muir
CEO Europe Middle East & Africa
Number of employees
 over 4,600 (2010)
Divisions Crown Relocations
Crown Records Management
Crown Logistics
Crown Fine Arts
Crown Wine Cellars
Website www.crownworldwide.com

The Crown Worldwide Group, headquartered in Hong Kong, provides transportation, relocation services, logistics and storage services from offices in nearly 60 countries. Services include international and domestic household goods shipments, global mobility, departure and destination services, fine arts transportation, records management, freight forwarding, third-party distribution, wine storage, and specialized logistics services.

Company overview

Crown Beijing, China

In 2012, Crown Worldwide Group generated revenue of approximately US$828 million, owned assets of $466 million and owned properties valuing $462 million.

Operating more than 9.5 million square feet of warehouse space, one of the company’s principal strategies is to continuously invest in new facilities. The Group comprises the following brands:

Crown Fine Art
Crown Logistics
Crown Records Management
Crown Relocations
Crown Wine Cellars
Crown World Mobility

History

Crown's first warehouse, 1965
Executive. He graduated from San Jose State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering. He traveled to Asia shortly after graduation and has lived in Japan and Hong Kong ever since. Thompson is a U.S. citizen and a permanent resident of Hong Kong.

Brands and marques

Crown truck featuring the company's red and yellow colours

Brands

Crown Fine Art - provides secure transportation, storage, installation and de-installation services for museums, art galleries, auction houses and private collectors.

Crown Records Management - manages secure archiving and retrieval of information in physical and electronic format, helping to maximize the value of corporate memory. Crown Relocations - provides transportation, destination and immigration services, as well as employee and family support, to assist people relocating internationally or domestically.

Crown Wine Cellars - offers wine storage and handling at facilities in Hong Kong and mainland China. The Hong Kong facility, located in a park-like setting in Shouson Hill, a suburb on Hong Kong Island, consists of two underground bunkers built by the British during World War II. Crown converted the bunkers and opened a private members' clubhouse featuring six underground wine cellars.

Crown World Mobility – provides strategic assignment management to corporations operating a globally mobile workforce.

Further divisions encompass more conventional logistics services including project management of oil and gas equipment, hotel refurbishments, and warehousing and distribution of luxury goods.

Marques:

Generally in 1970, commercial trucks in Hong Kong were red and black, so Crown Pacific adopted these colors, featuring on the company business cards. Over time, more emphasis was placed on the red and the crown symbol was always visible on the logo.

Today, the company uses the Crown name and logo, with the tag of its various services.

Crown Wine Cellars

The Library
The Library is located in the innermost part of the bunker

In 2002, Jim Thompson, realized that there were no wine cellars in Asia.[1] He made a proposal, to the Hong Kong Government to convert the Central Ordnance Munitions Depot into a commercial wine cellar, with a private members clubhouse and conservatory. After negotiating with 22 government departments and signing a seven-year lease, Crown Worldwide Group invested HKD 30 million (US$3.8 million), and the Crown Wine Cellars opened in 2003.[2][3]

The Hong Kong wine cellars occupy four of 12 original pairs of bunkers.[4] The clubhouse has three reception areas, two of which are located approximately twenty meters underground, can accommodate more than 100 people for sit-down dinner events and more than 200 people for private cocktails functions.[5] The club has approximately 700 members as at October 2009. The UNESCO presented an Award of Merit to Little Hong Kong in the year 2007.[6]

Crown Wine Cellars has subsequently opened facilities in Mainland China.

Crown Worldwide celebrates its 50th anniversary


On February 4, 2015, Crown Worldwide celebrated its 50th anniversary. To commemorate the anniversary, Jim Thompson traveled to Yokohama, Japan, to thank the Mayor of Yokohama, Fumiko Hayashi, and the city for hosting the company for half a century.

Celebrations took place around the Crown world, starting in New Zealand and finishing in Hawaii. As part of the celebrations, 38 branches took part in a competition to form the perfect “50”. Dubai were crowned the winners.

So what does Jim Thompson consider to be the likely future for his company? “The future is very bright, because we’re stable and so financially secure and have a solid management team to continue to take the company forward. It’s a brand people trust, which has for 50 years upheld important values.”

References/external links

  1. ↑ May George. "A Vintage diplomat (13 September 2008, South China Morning Post. Classified Post/P34. Retrieved 18 October 2009 Wise News
  2. ↑ Crown Wine Cellars Introduction
  3. ↑ Vivienne Chow. "Seven-year lease ‘too short to recover cost’ (30 June 2008 ) , South China Morning Post. CITY/CITY3. Retrieved 18 October 2009, Wise News
  4. ↑ Uncorking History (8 October 2008)
  5. ↑ Zhao, Xu (19 September 2008). Time%20Warp%2008-09-19.jpg "Time Warp". China Daily.
  6. ↑ UNESCO Bangkok Press release, 16 August 2007
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