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(February 2006) posted on Mon Feb 27, 2006

Plug into unique tradeshow signage opportunities

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By Jennifer Flinchpaugh

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Leno DeFeo says he happened upon the sign business "by accident." Four years ago, he quit the trucking industry and moved to Florida to start up a family business. When the business venture fell through, however, Leno and his wife Maria purchased the first business he came across in the classifieds: a failing Sign-a-Rama.

Although the couple may have entered the business "by accident," how they made the franchise work was anything but accidental. "[Sign-a-Rama's corporate office] assured us that if we did 'this,' 'this' and 'this,' that 'that' would happen," says Leno. "I basically took their word for it and followed their program, and we evolved into the number 10 Sign-a-Rama location in the country."

One of the "this-es" that Sign-A-Rama recommended was a change in marketing. Specifically, the corporation suggested they adopt an aggressive marketing approach (making cold calls, following up leads, etc.). Another recommendation was for Leno to improve the store's appearance. And the last bit of Sign-a-Rama advice: Offer a wide variety of products.

The previous franchise owner, says Leno, "was just selling vinyls, banners and PVC signs. We evolved into banners, neon, electric signs and tradeshow booths. If it has letters on it, we do it."

Electric signage

When Leno describes their product offerings as diverse, he's not kidding -- particularly because Sign-a-Rama franchises are often thought of as "vinyl-only" signshops. But their business is anything but.

Although they do create cut-vinyl letters and they have an Encad Novajet 3 printer, they don't limit themselves to one-dimensional work.

"We started with some of the tradeshow items like headers that we did out of Lexan and acrylics, and then it just seemed to snowball for us," says Leno. "Every week we're doing something different, for a different company, for a different tradeshow."