Herff Jones was founded by Harry J. Herff and Randall H. Jones in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1920. The company now has over 3000 employees and 700 sales representatives. Aside from providing graduation items to high school and university students, Herff Jones has made the Heisman Trophy for college football and the Super Bowl rings for the Super Bowl XLI. For almost thirty years now, Herff Jones has also produced the Indianapolis 500 winner’s ring.
Graduation is something seniors look forward to with excitement, and it involves ordering caps and gowns. As these seniors leave high school, some students also want to purchase class rings to remember their high school days.
Caps and gowns and class rings are both provided to Seminole students by Herff Jones, one of the largest manufacturers and sellers of graduation items such as caps, gowns, class rings, yearbooks, and diplomas. Herff Jones has production facilities all over the United States as well as in Florida. Though there are other companies in the market that sell graduation items, such as Josten’s, Herff Jones has a significant monopoly over the graduation market.
Assistant principal Leon McCants, who is in charge of all senior and graduation activities, said, “We are in somewhat of a relationship with Herff Jones and they are based out of Winter Park. They are the distributors for caps and gowns, rings, and announcements. They basically provide all that for us.”
The school holds a junior class ring assembly where a representative from Herff Jones explains to students about class rings and the policies Herff Jones provides. Students can choose from a variety of options about the metal, stone, pictures, and engravings they want on the ring. Herff Jones also guarantees a lifetime warranty, payment plans to help out students who are not able to pay all at one time, and free resizing. Junior Nora Ghobashy bought a class ring recently. She said, “Herff Jones guarantees a lifetime warranty for class rings.”
When asked if she has friends in other cities or states who have purchased class rings, she said that “My friends in other states who have bought class rings also got their rings from Herff Jones.”
Aside from class rings, Herff Jones provides seniors with caps and gowns. Senior Kyle Fryman said, “I’ll probably order my cap and gown in the next week because it’s required to walk at graduation.”
Even though caps and gowns are required, some students are not able to purchase them. That is where Herff Jones steps in. McCants explained the process by saying, “I let them know our students that are in need and they go and talk to who they need to talk to and they provide me those particular things. 90 to 95 percent of students take care of their own responsibilities but we do have some kids that can’t and if they can’t, administration will.”
There are many other schools such as Seminole that receive all graduation items for only Herff Jones. There are other competitors in the market, such as Joustens, but for schools in this area especially, the Herff Jones base in Orlando provides all graduation items.
When asked if he’d ever heard of Joustens, Fryman said, “I honestly thought Herff Jones just had a monopoly on graduation stuff. It’s the only one I’ve heard about.”
With Seminole’s relationship with Herff Jones spanning more than five years now, it looks like Herff Jones will be the sole provider of graduation items to graduating seniors.