About four months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, C.J. Hays bought a large inventory of lapel pins from a friend who had given up on selling them.


Hays believed he could do better than his friend by using the Internet to reach thousands of customers scattered across the country through a business he created called US-Pins.com.


Today, Spokane-based US-Pins is one of the top pin dealers in the U.S. based on sales and the number of pins sold, Hays asserts. The companys line of products, which leans toward the patriotic, is popular with military personnel and law enforcement.


Weve gotten several offers to buy us out, he says. But I am happy with what I am doing. Weve found our niche.


The company also sells medallions and other specialty items, such as coins, patches, and stuffed toy bears, to retail and wholesale customers across the country from its small office at 3701 E. Mission, near Spokane Community College. US-Pins employs four people, including Hays.


One of its most popular items is its Support the Troops lapel pin, Hays says.


We had 100,000 Support the Troops pins in stock before the war started, and the first day of fighting we sold 25,000 lapel pins, he says. I am not sitting around waiting for disasters, but every time there is an event, activity goes up. People want to express their grief and their support through pins.


Hays declines to disclose US-Pins revenues, except to say that since 2002 the company has had $1.3 million in sales.


US-Pins says 97 percent of its customers are located outside of the state of Washington. The company says it has supplied pins to a handful of organizations in the Spokane area, including the Inland Northwest Blood Center, Northern Quest Casino, and Spokane Valley Church of the Nazarene.


Weve been so busy that we havent had time to pursue a lot of clients in Spokane, Hays says. Its probably something were going to start moving into this year.


The Inland Northwest Blood Center gives the pins bought from US-Pins to faithful donors who have given large volumes of blood.


The pins are a good talking piece for us, says Bob Purdy, Inland Northwest Blood Centers director of community services. Were happy with the job theyve done for us.


Roughly half of US-Pins revenues stem from its wholesale operation, Hays says. The company supplies about 30 retailers, who mostly are small operators, across the country with its products. About 20 percent of its wholesale operation involves sales to government agencies, including the FBI, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Forest Service. On its retail side, in addition to organizations and patriotic folks, it also provides larger customers such as Ford Motor Co., Miller Brewing Co., and Coca-Cola Co. with pins and other specialty items.


Before launching US-Pins, Hays worked as an independent investigator for private companies, researching fraud and other white-collar crimes, he says. Hays says his relationships from his investigative career helped him land sales with government agencies.


US-Pins also sells pins to police and fire departments across the country, including custom-made pins that honor law-enforcement officers and firefighters who have died, typically in the line of duty.


On the memorial pins we just charge enough to cover our costs, Hays says.


US-Pins also supplies some U.S. military personnel, including those stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base, with small medallions called challenge coins. These coins are designed to reflect the spirit, history, and tradition of individual units and service branches.


Officers in the military have a longstanding tradition of carrying the unit coins when ever they go to the officers club, Hays says. Officers can be challenged by fellow officers to produce their coins or face the consequences.


Every officer puts their coins on the bar, and the person who doesnt have a coin has to buy the first round, he says. These coins are very popular, and each one is different.


The majority of the companys products are made in China.


The quality is better than anything I can get in the U.S. at comparable prices and delivery times, Hays says. Plus, the factories over there are much faster. I can get an order for a large number of pins in about two weeks.


US-Pins relies heavily on the Internet to order, market, and sell its products.


Ninety-five percent of our sales are from the Internet, says Hays. I operate the business with the computer. I have had to use the phone only three times to talk to a factory representative in China. Its all done by e-mail.


US-Pins hires college students to design some of its pins, he says. The company pays for designs on a contract basis, but Hays declines to say how much it pays. Hays also comes up with ideas for new pins by surfing the Web. The company has copywrited its designs.


I am on the Internet all the time, he says. Our Navy Jack Flag pin is a result of reading that the Navy was going to allow combat ships to start flying the Navy Jack flag again. We had the pins in stock before it happened.


The company has advertised on many Web sites, including at times on that of conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, Hays says. The company has its Web site address engraved onto the backs of its pins.


Its a good way to get repeat business, he says. Even if the pin is resold on eBay, the buyer knows where to get more of them.


Hays says he realized the Internet was the key to growing his business. To reach customers on the Internet, US-Pins paid search engine companies such as Google and Yahoo advertising fees so its name and contact information would come up in search results when an Internet user launched a search for a lapel pin.


It worked. US-Pins Web-site traffic grew to the point that the Spokane company no longer must pay search engine companies to have its name come up in such searches.


It was expensive; every time somebody clicked on the sponsored link, it cost me about $7, he says. But were able to build up enough interest that we didnt need to be a sponsored link anymore.


Minority-interest owners Bob Donegan and Mike Knudtson are involved in the companys daily operations part time.


Hays formed the company in early 2002 in Modesto, Calif., and moved it to Spokane in July that year.


My friend really couldnt make it go, Hays says. I knew with the anniversary of 9/11 coming up that people would want to show their patriotism. I knew I could make a pin business work.