Corporate Culture
The chain is known for its often self-deprecating humor, both in their advertising and throughout their stores. Their weekly circulars often feature caricatures of founder Jerry Ellis with a number of sarcastic captions, many of which are repeated in their in-store advertising.
Each Building #19 location offers free coffee with "free fake cream." Signs near the free coffee stand warn customers not to make fun of the poor quality of the coffee, because "someday you'll be old and weak too." Their price guarantee awards a bottle of "Chateau du Cheapo" champagne if a competitor beats their price.
Jerry has two daughters (each owns a part of the business) and a son, Bill, who is the president of Building #19.
In 2006, Building #19 put a cartoon in their President's Day advertising flier showing A-shirts labeled as being "Wife-Beater" shirts. Building #19 was criticized and promptly apologized. A flier two years later poked fun at the 2006 controversy and was similarly criticized.
The main Building #19 store is located in Weymouth, Massachusetts; other stores have a fraction appended to their name (such as Building 19½, in Burlington or Building #19¾, in Norwood).
Read more about this topic: Building 19
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