Business Profile: Parker Advertising Specialists, Yorktown
Photo Credit: Neal Rentz
Yorktown resident Jennifer Park said promotional advertising by distribution of various items “is extremely helpful”
Some promotional items provided to the public include refrigerator magnets. “You’re going to see that every single time you open up that refrigerator door,” Parker said last week. “Tee shirts – you see them everywhere. Hats, people just remember.”
Parker Advertising Specialists focuses on promotional advertising. Any enterprise with a logo or saying they want to put on an item. Parker owns the company and runs it out of her home. Parker said she is a middleman who distributes the items.
“I can do anything from a quantity of a dozen to thousands,” Parker said.
Parker has both small and large businesses as her clients. Other clients include local schools and the Westchester County Police Department for its programs, including their golf outings and annual picnics, Parker said, adding her husband, John, is a retired county police officer. Her clients come from several areas including Manhattan, Queens, Westchester and Connecticut.
Parker opened Parker Advertising Specialists in her Yorktown home in 2002. “It‘s just more convenient because I had two young children (Penelope and Abigail). So it’s easier to work from home and still tend to them,” she said.
Working from home has many advantages, including lower overhead costs, Parker said. “So I can definitely reflect some of those savings that I have on to my clients,” she emphasized.
Originally, Parker Advertising promoted itself through word of mouth. She recently joined the Yorktown Chamber of Commerce “to try to get my name out there a little bit more,” Parker said. “I’d like to expand it.” Parker Advertising also has its own Web site and Facebook page.
Parker said her original work background was not in the advertising field “I originally had a background in human resources and payroll,” she said. “Parker Advertising was a business that was run originally by my husband’s uncle (Mike Parker) and he wanted to retire it and my husband said, no, no, I’ll keep it going. But my husband had a full-time job so I ended up keeping it going and it just became mine. My husband doesn’t do anything with it.”
By the time she took over Parker Advertising Parker had left her job in New York City to care for her children and was ready for a new profession. She recalled it was not a difficult transition for her to move into a new field. “It kept me busy,” Parker quipped.
Parker said she enjoys working with her clients, many of whom have worked with her for years. “It’s just fun. You get to know them. They become friends and family almost.”
Promotional advertising is very effective, Parker said. “It’s a great way to advertise, to get your name out there and to keep people remembering you.”
For more information about Parker Advertising Specialists call 914-962-4562, send an e-mail to parkeradv@verizon.net or visit parkeradv.com. It also has a Facebook page.
