BusinessTN

The New York Yankees won their 27th World Series championship this year, but this time covering fresh ground -- specifically that of the new Yankee Stadium completed last April for over $1 billion. At any one of the games held in the Bronx, those fans who visited the stadium's gift shops experienced a piece of Tennessee’s Upper Cumberland region, as well.

Fixtur-World, an architectural millwork company based in the manufacturing hub of Cookeville, designed and installed retail space and display fixtures for merchandise stores within the new Yankee Stadium.

"Yankee Stadium is a major, high-profile institution to be involved with," says George Halford, president and CEO of the Cookeville-Putnam County Chamber of Commerce. "It puts us on a national stage."

Growing from a family-owned business called F&W Vending, Fixtur-World became a major producer of commercial, retail, and dining displays and installations under the ownership of CEO Horace Burks. "Colleges and universities are our largest sector, then hospitals and stadiums," Burks says of the company, which now supports two locations in Putnam County.

Along with recent clients, like Lowe's Home Improvement and the U.S. Postal Service, Fixtur-World has carved a niche for itself in sports entertainment. "As far as NFL stadiums, Fixtur-World has done as many as anyone in the entire country," Burks says.

In 2007, Legends Hospitality Management, a concession, merchandise and facilities management firm headquartered in Newark, N.J., commissioned Fixtur-World for the new Yankee Stadium. Founded by Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, Legends partners with Goldman Sachs and Dallas-based CIC Partners, as well as IMG Worldwide in joint venture made this year.

"We chose Fixtur-World based on our previous experience with the company," says Jon Muscalo, Legend's vice president of facilities. According to Burks, that includes stadium projects for "the Rams, Jaguars, Redskins, Panthers, Titans, and some others."

After designing "unique, one-of-a-kind" fixtures in Cookeville, Fixtur-World supervised installation at Yankee Stadium beginning in early 2009, Burks says, for nine walk-in stores, including a New Era flagship store, the official hat company licensed by Major League Baseball.

With success in New York, Burks hopes an enduring future in sports venues awaits the company. However, that future did not include a once likely deal with Legends partner, the Dallas Cowboys, for the team's new stadium built last June, which Burks says "was already well ahead into its plans and had already made purchases." Meanwhile, other opportunities linger, as Muscalo says, "We have had discussions with them on a new ballpark in Winston-Salem, N.C. that we are opening this spring."

A flat lining economy could likely impact stadium projects cropping up across the country, and in turn, Fixtur-World's presence in the line of work. But for now, the Cookeville company basks in the limelight of the Series winning Yankees, existing as one of the powerful enterprises in a lengthy clientele list.