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Atlas Signworks to flex its muscle nationwide


Erik Sine

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Atlas Signworks to flex its muscle nationwide

By LORI BECKER

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Monday, July 16, 2007

RIVIERA BEACH — Jeff, Joe and Jim Adinolfe are in the business of building first impressions.

From glowing neon letters to giant aluminum logos, the three brothers make signs, crafting companies' signature images to beckon passers-by.

From banks to shopping centers, eateries to offices, their Atlas Sign Industries has made signs for hundreds of businesses around the country. They've helped build some of the nation's most recognizable brands, including Home Depot, Wachovia and Dunkin' Donuts.

Now they're working to make an impression of their own.

In 15 years, the Adinolfe brothers have taken their sign business from three men, one truck and a 3,000-square-foot garage to a multi-state, multimillion-dollar company with 166 employees. But the Riviera Beach firm is in the middle of its most aggressive expansion yet.

In its efforts to take its full-service sign business national, Atlas just invested $5 million into a new manufacturing plant in North Carolina. It opened a service center in Georgia, with another coming in Texas. And it's hiring dozens of employees locally as it makes plans to add a second shift at its Blue Heron Boulevard headquarters, which now has about 107 workers.

"We have the manufacturing horsepower behind us now and the momentum to keep it going," said Jim, 41, the youngest of the Atlas owners.

Atlas is already one of the larger players in the $30 billion on-premise sign industry. The majority of the nation's sign shops are small firms with fewer than 10 people, industry reports show.

"They're definitely steps ahead of a lot of sign companies," said Jeff Wooten, editor of Sign Builder Illustrated, a trade magazine published in New York.

Atlas' client roster ranges from one-shop retailers to national chains. Some of their notable customers include Verizon Communications, Citibank, Beall's Outlet Stores and airport retailer The Paradies Shops. The company's latest additions are Cracker Barrel and Advance Auto Parts.

The privately held company expects to reach $20 million in sales this year, up from $14 million in 2006, the brothers said.

"We've grown up," said Jeff, 49, the eldest Adinolfe.

Atlas will ship signs anywhere in the country, but it only handles the installation and maintenance in the Southeast. The company's new locations will broaden its reach.

Atlas opened its second manufacturing plant in April, a 144,000-square-foot warehouse on 15 acres in Concord, N.C. The plant has 53 employees to date, with plans to reach 120 by the end of next year. Jolynn Adinolfe, 39, Joe's wife, is at the helm as president of the new site.

Atlas sets itself apart by handling its signs from start to finish, the Adinolfes said. Depending on clients' needs, Atlas designs, permits, builds, installs and maintains the majority of its signs. "It's all about the execution," Jim said.

Atlas' in-house design team works with customers to develop or refine their signs. The company's project management staff takes care of any needed permits from local governments and later sets up a maintenance schedule.

"A lot of companies don't do that. They sell a sign and move on. We don't," said Joe, 43. "When you start outsourcing, that's when you lose control."

Signs shops have popped up around the country through franchises such as West Palm Beach-based Sign-A-Rama and Fast Signs in Carrollton, Texas. The majority of sign companies, especially franchise stores, subcontract at least a portion of their work, according to industry reports.

"A lot of sign shops specialize in one area," Wooten said. "Lots of small shops have to hook up with franchises. You'll see a lot of people trying to get into the industry that way. If this company is doing all that, from design to permitting to shipping, that puts them really at the top of the food chain."

That service is why chiropractor Russ Seger went to Atlas for the signs at his new clinic on Forest Hill Boulevard.

"They just have the infrastructure and the manpower to take it from A to Z. I didn't have to deal with planning and zoning," said Seger, owner of Central Palm Beach Physicians and Urgent Care. He said he spent about $50,000 on new signs from Atlas this spring, from the 20-foot monument sign at the roadway entrance to small lighted directional signs.

"They delivered a wonderful product to us in a timely fashion. I've gotten lots of response from clients," he said.

The Adinolfe brothers grew up in Buffalo, but the family moved to Palm Beach County in 1978. Their parents, Joe and Julie Adinolfe, owned a small sign business called Flex Plex Signs, where the brothers learned their trade.

"That's what we knew," Jim said. "We've all installed, made and designed signs ourselves."

Jeff, Jim and Joe launched Atlas in 1992 in Lake Worth, three months before Hurricane Andrew smashed south Miami-Dade County. The destruction gave the young company an unexpected surge in demand for its wares, and just a few months later, it moved to a new 5,000-square-foot facility and boosted its payroll to 12 employees.

"That put us on the map," Joe said.

A series of moves followed in the coming years, as Atlas continued to add equipment, employees and customers. The company moved to its current location in 2001, but has since expanded at the site to reach about 85,000 square feet. The latest addition came six months ago with new offices.

A fourth Adinolfe brother also joined the company. Jay Adinolfe, 40, now runs the shop floor at the Riviera Beach factory.

With the growth in space has come a turnaround in how Atlas builds signs. Technology has transformed the sign business in recent years.

When the brothers started the company, they did everything by hand, from painting to engraving to cutting aluminum letters. Now, it's done with computers and machines, and the Adinolfes have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into equipment over the past decade. "We used to do all that manually. Now, everything is all precision," Jeff said.

Atlas builds a wide variety of signs, from one-of-a-kind creations to uniform signs for multiple locations. Their custom work includes a rotating diamond for Ultra Diamonds in Atlantic City, N.J., and a giant bowl of steaming noodles for Mama Fu's Noodle House in Charlotte, N.C.

"Anybody can build a square box," Joe said. "We like the challenge."

Atlas' prices vary widely based on size and originality. On average, a set of neon letters can cost $2,500. A pole sign can be about $6,000, while a monument sign can cost $8,000 to $12,000. Custom work can be tens of thousands of dollars.

While Andrew launched the company, the Adinolfes also credit Mother Nature for some of their growth in recent years. The hurricanes of 2004 and 2005 spurred round-the-clock demand for the sign maker, which is still taking care of repairs from Hurricane Wilma in late 2005.

"We used to encourage them to come. Now we don't want them," Jim said.

But the storms have created a new line of business for Atlas. In 2005, the company was federally certified as a first responder, allowing its crews to get into disaster areas to secure sign hazards, Jim said.

It handles disaster repairs for Home Depot, a retailer that can't afford to delay opening after a storm, said Steve Mills, building services manager for the Atlanta-based home improvement chain.

"Based on their ability to respond quickly with the appropriate equipment and materials, they're my preferred vendor with that," Mills said. "I have to get vendors that I can rely on because customers rely on us."

Atlas also manages the regular sign maintenance and installation for all of the Home Depots in 22 states and is now handling a companywide upgrade, converting all of the retailer's signs from neon to more energy-efficient LEDs, Mills said.

"Atlas does turn out a quality product that they stand behind," he said. "That's one of our major assurances in working with Atlas.... It's our image. It is one of the first things that customers see when they come to our buildings, so we want to put our best foot forward."

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. - Winston Churchill

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It handles disaster repairs for Home Depot, a retailer that can't afford to delay opening after a storm, said Steve Mills, building services manager for the Atlanta-based home improvement chain.

"Based on their ability to respond quickly with the appropriate equipment and materials, they're my preferred vendor with that," Mills said. "I have to get vendors that I can rely on because customers rely on us."

Atlas also manages the regular sign maintenance and installation for all of the Home Depots in 22 states and is now handling a companywide upgrade, converting all of the retailer's signs from neon to more energy-efficient LEDs, Mills said.

"Atlas does turn out a quality product that they stand behind," he said. "That's one of our major assurances in working with Atlas.... It's our image. It is one of the first things that customers see when they come to our buildings, so we want to put our best foot forward."

gallery_1122_58_47808.jpg

Can someone upload my home depot pic from my gallery here please? For some reason I cannot add attatchments......

Edited by Westcoast Sign Guy
You should be able to add...but i'll add the url from the gallery
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