Century 21 Real Estate

Century 21 was founded in 1971 by Art Bartlett and Marsh Fisher in Orange County, California. The company pioneered the national real estate franchise model — at the time a novel concept — and grew rapidly through the 1970s and 1980s by standardizing systems, training, and branding that independent operators had previously managed inconsistently.

The brand was acquired by Cendant Corporation (now Anywhere Real Estate) in 1995 and has operated under the Anywhere umbrella alongside Coldwell Banker, ERA, and Sotheby's International Realty. Despite the shared corporate parent, the four brands are managed independently with distinct positioning.

Century 21 underwent a significant brand relaunch in 2018, replacing the gold-and-black visual identity that had defined the company since the 1970s with a new typographic mark and updated color palette. The relaunch was aimed at modernizing the brand's appeal to younger buyers and first-time homeowners who had grown up with a different set of visual references.

The Greg Harrelson Group, operating under the Century 21 banner in Myrtle Beach, consistently ranks among the top transaction-sides producers in the country. With over 2,400 transaction sides and nearly $768 million in annual sales volume, Harrelson's operation exemplifies the high-volume, broad-market model that Century 21's infrastructure supports.