Great Dane’s “Champ” Statue Moves To Indiana Plant

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If you want your company to have instant brand recognition, then it helps to either have a good logo or a good mascot. For years, Great Dane has had that with its “Champ” statue, which has been located in front of the company’s headquarters in Savannah, Georgia, but is now being moved to Brazil, Indiana, home to Great Dane’s largest manufacturing plant. Great Dane points out that Champ has been a popular attraction for people living in the Savannah community as well as tourists, and it expects the same level of interest when the statue finds its way to Indiana.

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Great Dane’s ‘Champ’ statue has been around since 1953, but it has gone through some changes since then as it was updated in 2002 to replace its papier-mâché exterior with fiberglass. (Photo courtesy of Great Dane.)

A Long History

The history of the Champ statue, which is fittingly in the image of a Great Dane dog, is an interesting one because it was originally created for a trailer dealership located in Orlando, Florida, way back in 1953 before Great Dane bought that company in the 1960s. When the company moved into its new Savannah facility, it wanted to bring the statue along with it, but it was in admittedly bad shape due to being made out of papier-mâché.

Not happy with letting the statue stay in its less than stellar condition, Great Dane hired a company called Savannah Shipyard to refurbish the statue by replacing its original papier-mâché body with fiberglass. This renewal, which occurred in 2002, has made it so that the Champ statue remains in great condition to this day, and the intent is for it to stay that way in Brazil, Indiana, for years to come.

Source: Great Dane