Cougar Headquarters Celebrates First Anniversary

, located in the Centennial Village area of Cranford, is celebrating its first anniversary this month. One year ago, Cougar HQ had its grand opening and ribbon cutting as Hurricane Irene was approaching New Jersey.

"It has been a tremendous year for us," said store owner Donna Marino. "When Hurricane Irene devastated so many of the residents in our community, we immediately implemented a fundraiser selling shirts to benefit the victims." After being open only a few weeks Cougar HQ was able to sell hundreds of shirts and presented a check for $3000 to Cranford Family Care.

A few months later, the township of Cranford experienced another history-making event. The Cranford High School Varsity Football team won the State Championship for the very first time. This event launched a new sense of town spirit. Cougar HQ seized the opportunity to provide services to players and residents offering varsity jackets, personalized State Championship hoodies and tees throughout the season and well into the Holidays.

Just when things seemed to settle in, another exciting moment happened in Cranford. Chad Faulcon, a graduate of Cranford High School was signed as a free agent by the Atlanta Falcons. Upon learning of the signing, store manager Stefanie Winnicki congratulated Chad Faulcon via the Cougar HQ Face Book page. One thing lead to another and owners Scott and Donna Marino quickly staged a meet and greet event before he left for training camp.

"We wanted to give him the proper hometown send-off," said owner Scott Marino. On May 3, more than 200 residents both young and old came through the shop's doors. Many brought their footballs to be signed and others simply wanted a picture with the new role model of Cranford.

As Cougar HQ enters its second year, they look forward to the opportunity to continue providing screen printing and embroidery services to schools, sports teams and organizations of Cranford and the surrounding areas. The retail front of Cougar HQ strives to maintain its hometown feel, similar to that of a college book store.

"We listen to our customers and try to provide a wonderful product mix." is the philosophy of the Marino's. The Cougar HQ store is always well stocked with Cranford themed tees, sweats, shorts and jackets, as well as accessories including chairs, bags, towels, glassware, chairs and cheer gear. For additional information email sales@CougarHQ.com or call 908-497-9900.