Devon Rifkin

Devon Rifkin is an American Entrepreneur who was awarded Entrepreneur Magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award and appeared on the cover of the December 2008 issue. He is founder and former CEO The Great American Hanger Company (aka Hangers.com).

Education

Rifkin is a graduate of Palmetto High School in Miami, Florida. Rifkin decided to forgo College for a more unconventional education as an entrepreneur.

The Great American Hanger Company (aka Hangers.com)

In 2000, Rifkin started The Great American Hanger Company in his studio apartment. He travelled to Asia to learn all he could about clothes hangers and with his apartment as collateral borrowed $30,000 to purchase a container of 100,000 garment hangers. In 2001 he acquired the domain name Hangers.com for $10,000. The company subsequently marketed and sold more than $70,000,000 dollars of hangers to more than 150,000 unique accounts thru online and print channels. The company transformed mundane clothes hangers and turned them into appealing must haves for retailers, residences, hotels, cruise lines and celebrities. Customers included Ralph Lauren, DKNY, New York Yankees, J. Lo, California Closets, Hilton Hotels, Oprah Winfrey, Sasha & Malia Obama and Michael Jordan. Rifkin built the business until 2012 when it was acquired by International Hanger based in Austin, TX and Hong Kong, China).

Expense Advisors

In 2014, Rifkin started Expense Advisors, a company that takes action in analyzing, offering & reducing recurring expenses for businesses (B2B) and consumers (B2C).

National Cost Containment Group

Rifkin founded the National Cost Containment Group (NCCG) in 2014. The National Cost Containment Group (NCCG) is a group purchasing organization (GPO). The NCCG was created to leverage the purchasing power of its’ Members to obtain discounts, incentives and value added services from Vendor / Partners based on the collective buying power of NCCG and its’ Members. The concept of group purchasing was created circa 1910 and practiced only by the most powerful industries such as healthcare and grocery’s to purchase core raw materials and supplies. For many decades, GPOs grew slowly in number and in recent years has begun to take root in less influential industries. The National Cost Containment Group is recognized as the pioneering Horizontal-Market Group Purchasing Organization (HMGPO) and has positioned itself to support non-industry specific members (aka “non-strategic”) that cannot leverage formal or mature organizations in their respective industries. , or indirect spend horizontal market (GPO) For non-industry specific companies (the "horizontal market") of all sizes and annual revenue levels, group purchasing is recognized as the most effective strategy to measurably reduce overhead expenses. The National Cost Containment Group (NCCG) is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

Personal life

Devon is a resident of Atlanta, Georgia where he lives with his wife and their three children.

National Awards

As the founder and CEO of The Great American Hanger Company, Rifkin, was awarded Entrepreneur Magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award and appeared on the cover of the December 2008 issue. The Entrepreneur Magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award is a prestigious award that recognizes men and woman who have excelled at pioneering, growing and sustaining market-leading businesses. The award reception was held in Irvine, California and was co-presented by Entrepreneur Magazine and UPS to Devon Rifkin founder of The Great American Hanger Company (aka Hangers.com). The award was the inaugural Entrepreneur Magazine Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Rifkin was selected from 20,000 + applicants.

In addition to his national recognition, Rifkin’s company, The Great American Hanger Company (aka Hangers.com) was awarded INC Magazine’s INC 500 Award for Fastest Growing Private Companies three consecutive years. (2005 - #114 - 832.2%, 2006 - #498 - 305.1%, 2007 - #2222 – 161.5%)

Features & Recognition

Devon was feature story in Fortune Small Business Magazine.

He received a full chapter in the book Coolest Entrepreneurs in America.

Rifkin has been featured on TV talk shows such as CNBC's The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch.

Featured in best-selling Branding For Dummies.

Movie – The Young Entrepreneur Society (‘Yes’ Movie).

State of Georgia billboard campaign

Over the years, Rifkin is often called on to speak at Colleges, companies and in various entrepreneurial settings, as well as executive panels at The Brookings Institute, The White House, INC Magazine Conference and Head Judge Blackstone Launch Pad Elevator Pitch Contest (2008-2012)

Entrepreneur Young Millionaires Award.

CNN Sourcing globally

Rifkin was the youngest attendee Georgia’s 48th annual Red Carpet Tour, a premier event designed to showcase Georgia’s thriving business community.

As the recession hit, Rifkin was featured in Forbes Magazine to discuss his tactics for weathering the storm.

Discovery Channel’s 7 suprising American Millionaires

Entrepreneur Hot 100 Award #81

Internet Retailer Top 500 E-Retailer Guide #468