Once bright future beginning to dim

[Erik Sine]

Once bright future beginning to dim

As sales of neon signs have plummeted, local craftsman pushes on

Kevin Stirnweis bends glass tubing for a neon sign at his Chelsea workshop. The sign will be for a Brighton auto restoration company. (Globe Staff Photo / John Blanding)

By Ami Albernaz

Globe Correspondent / April 17, 2008

Approaching Light Design Neon in Chelsea, it's hard to tell whether it's still in operation. A glowing pink and turquoise sign reading "Neon" hangs in the window, but lower down, so does a more sober "For Sale" notice. Inside, a colossal Marilyn Monroe fixture smiles down from the back wall, alongside images of Mufasa and Simba from "The Lion King." Out-of-service signs from a money-transfer shop and the nearby Katz Bagel Bakery lean against the shelving below.

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Light Design is hanging on, just barely. It's a tough time to be in the neon business, said Kevin Stirnweis, who opened the shop in 1987 and, these days, works alone.

"There might be months when no customers walk in," said Stirnweis, 48, who is dressed in a black EMS shirt and dark jeans and has a ginger-colored braid that reaches his back. Referring to the white Akita- Labrador mix that serves as a doorbell, he added: "I'm having a hard time feeding my dog."

LED lighting (light-emitting diode) is partly to blame for neon's decline, as is environmentalism. Sales of neon signs containing mercury - meaning most of them - have been banned in Vermont, and Stirnweis sees this as a harbinger of things to come.

Then, of course, there's the matter of trends. While the nostalgic appeal of neon is undisputed, it generally isn't as cool as it was two decades ago.

"I talk to [the people at] Neon Williams on the phone all the time and we gripe about how terrible business is," he said, referring to the sign shop in Allston where he worked in the mid-'80s, when neon was in high demand.

Nowadays, Stirnweis's jobs are restricted largely to repairs and channel letters - illuminated stand-alone letters used as signs. There is the occasional bright spot, as when the makers of the film "The Departed" borrowed several of his signs.

"That one right there was in the film," he said, pointing to a woman's face displayed high on the wall. "I saw its reflection in a puddle, just for a second."

Pieces around the shop and photos in the albums that Stirnweis keeps of his work recall better days. At one point in the '90s, Stirnweis had eight employees. Orders poured in from businesses and homeowners, some wanting a neon sign for a home bar.

There were also the jobs from National Amusements Showcase Cinemas that sent Stirnweis to England, Scotland, Chile, and Argentina to install movie murals, including a 19-foot Marilyn Monroe in Glasgow. Closer to home were the giant King Kong and Wizard of Oz installations at the Showcase Cinemas in Woburn, which Stirnweis completed in six weeks as part of the cinema's renovations in 1997.

"I worked 22, 23 hours a day for four of those weeks, but we got it done," he said, adding that he hasn't had a single call for repairs.

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Cinema openings have slowed down in recent years, and lower prices on the Internet have lured away some of Stirnweis's would-be customers. The photo bulbs that Light Design used to turn out by the hundreds have since been switched over to LED.

Much of what was once powered by neon, in fact, has switched over to LED, as it is considered to be easier to install and more energy-efficient. (Perhaps the most prominent defector, the Citgo sign in Kenmore Square, went LED three years ago.)

Though statistics are hard to come by, neon has taken a hit nationwide, confirmed Nancy Maren, director of member resources at the United States Sign Council. "Very few companies make a living working with neon anymore," she said.

Locally, most sign shops have diversified; Stirnweis said that to his knowledge, Light Design and Neon Williams are the only two shops around to specialize in neon. These places are also, in a sense, the keepers of an exacting craft.

In a large workroom behind Stirnweis's storefront, he first sketches patterns for the sign itself and for the sheet metal supporting it. Then, at his "neon bending" station, he heats long tubes of glass and shapes them to form the letters.

"It's frustrating in the beginning, learning to be sensitive to the glass and knowing when it's heated up enough or when it's heated up too much," said Stirnweis, who segued into working with neon while he was a ceramics student at Alfred University in New York. "You burn yourself a lot and cut yourself a lot."

He then attaches electrodes to the ends of the tubes, and at a "pumping station" where the gases are kept, forces impurities out of the tubes and electrodes by removing air from the tube and blasting it with heat. Neon or argon is then inserted, and a drop of mercury added for blues, yellows, and greens.

A well-made sign, Stirnweis said, will last 20 years. That lifespan, along with the small amount of mercury involved, makes Stirnweis think environmental concerns are overblown.

"A fluorescent bulb that has mercury in it will maybe last a year. That can't be repaired," he said. "I can put a new electrode on [a neon sign] and it will last another 20 years."

Stirnweis isn't alone in defending neon; Maren, for one, said it "gets a bum rap." Still, Stirnweis isn't holding out for the tides to turn back in neon's favor. Light Design has been for sale for a year, and once it sells, he isn't sure if he'll stay in the sign business or move on to something else.

"Maybe I should start a school," he quipped, surveying all of the equipment and supplies.

But neon might not be relegated to retro signs and clocks. As a lighting technology, it's in a class of its own, said Anthony Clayton of Back Bay Sign in Medford.

"Neon, for so many years, has been the beautiful, accepted standard," he said. "If you need a repair, it can be done easily. LED lighting is an emerging technology, and it has some advantages. But in my mind and the mind of many, it's not quite there yet."

[renagade bender]

First sentence , third paragraph states it all.

Go out and sell the work, if you wait for it to come to you you will be out of buisness.

Once bright future beginning to dim

As sales of neon signs have plummeted, local craftsman pushes on

Kevin Stirnweis bends glass tubing for a neon sign at his Chelsea workshop. The sign will be for a Brighton auto restoration company. (Globe Staff Photo / John Blanding)

By Ami Albernaz

Globe Correspondent / April 17, 2008

Approaching Light Design Neon in Chelsea, it's hard to tell whether it's still in operation. A glowing pink and turquoise sign reading "Neon" hangs in the window, but lower down, so does a more sober "For Sale" notice. Inside, a colossal Marilyn Monroe fixture smiles down from the back wall, alongside images of Mufasa and Simba from "The Lion King." Out-of-service signs from a money-transfer shop and the nearby Katz Bagel Bakery lean against the shelving below.

more stories like this

Light Design is hanging on, just barely. It's a tough time to be in the neon business, said Kevin Stirnweis, who opened the shop in 1987 and, these days, works alone.

"There might be months when no customers walk in," said Stirnweis, 48, who is dressed in a black EMS shirt and dark jeans and has a ginger-colored braid that reaches his back. Referring to the white Akita- Labrador mix that serves as a doorbell, he added: "I'm having a hard time feeding my dog."

LED lighting (light-emitting diode) is partly to blame for neon's decline, as is environmentalism. Sales of neon signs containing mercury - meaning most of them - have been banned in Vermont, and Stirnweis sees this as a harbinger of things to come.

Then, of course, there's the matter of trends. While the nostalgic appeal of neon is undisputed, it generally isn't as cool as it was two decades ago.

"I talk to [the people at] Neon Williams on the phone all the time and we gripe about how terrible business is," he said, referring to the sign shop in Allston where he worked in the mid-'80s, when neon was in high demand.

Nowadays, Stirnweis's jobs are restricted largely to repairs and channel letters - illuminated stand-alone letters used as signs. There is the occasional bright spot, as when the makers of the film "The Departed" borrowed several of his signs.

"That one right there was in the film," he said, pointing to a woman's face displayed high on the wall. "I saw its reflection in a puddle, just for a second."

Pieces around the shop and photos in the albums that Stirnweis keeps of his work recall better days. At one point in the '90s, Stirnweis had eight employees. Orders poured in from businesses and homeowners, some wanting a neon sign for a home bar.

There were also the jobs from National Amusements Showcase Cinemas that sent Stirnweis to England, Scotland, Chile, and Argentina to install movie murals, including a 19-foot Marilyn Monroe in Glasgow. Closer to home were the giant King Kong and Wizard of Oz installations at the Showcase Cinemas in Woburn, which Stirnweis completed in six weeks as part of the cinema's renovations in 1997.

"I worked 22, 23 hours a day for four of those weeks, but we got it done," he said, adding that he hasn't had a single call for repairs.

more stories like this

Cinema openings have slowed down in recent years, and lower prices on the Internet have lured away some of Stirnweis's would-be customers. The photo bulbs that Light Design used to turn out by the hundreds have since been switched over to LED.

Much of what was once powered by neon, in fact, has switched over to LED, as it is considered to be easier to install and more energy-efficient. (Perhaps the most prominent defector, the Citgo sign in Kenmore Square, went LED three years ago.)

Though statistics are hard to come by, neon has taken a hit nationwide, confirmed Nancy Maren, director of member resources at the United States Sign Council. "Very few companies make a living working with neon anymore," she said.

Locally, most sign shops have diversified; Stirnweis said that to his knowledge, Light Design and Neon Williams are the only two shops around to specialize in neon. These places are also, in a sense, the keepers of an exacting craft.

In a large workroom behind Stirnweis's storefront, he first sketches patterns for the sign itself and for the sheet metal supporting it. Then, at his "neon bending" station, he heats long tubes of glass and shapes them to form the letters.

"It's frustrating in the beginning, learning to be sensitive to the glass and knowing when it's heated up enough or when it's heated up too much," said Stirnweis, who segued into working with neon while he was a ceramics student at Alfred University in New York. "You burn yourself a lot and cut yourself a lot."

He then attaches electrodes to the ends of the tubes, and at a "pumping station" where the gases are kept, forces impurities out of the tubes and electrodes by removing air from the tube and blasting it with heat. Neon or argon is then inserted, and a drop of mercury added for blues, yellows, and greens.

A well-made sign, Stirnweis said, will last 20 years. That lifespan, along with the small amount of mercury involved, makes Stirnweis think environmental concerns are overblown.

"A fluorescent bulb that has mercury in it will maybe last a year. That can't be repaired," he said. "I can put a new electrode on [a neon sign] and it will last another 20 years."

Stirnweis isn't alone in defending neon; Maren, for one, said it "gets a bum rap." Still, Stirnweis isn't holding out for the tides to turn back in neon's favor. Light Design has been for sale for a year, and once it sells, he isn't sure if he'll stay in the sign business or move on to something else.

"Maybe I should start a school," he quipped, surveying all of the equipment and supplies.

But neon might not be relegated to retro signs and clocks. As a lighting technology, it's in a class of its own, said Anthony Clayton of Back Bay Sign in Medford.

"Neon, for so many years, has been the beautiful, accepted standard," he said. "If you need a repair, it can be done easily. LED lighting is an emerging technology, and it has some advantages. But in my mind and the mind of many, it's not quite there yet."

[DAVE THE NEON GUY]

I absolutely agree 100%....Personally, Neon signs are the ONLY ones I do and business is pretty good.....maybe I picked up all his customers. Just joking..... I really can't tell much of a difference in my work load..... honestly can't tell LED even exists..... LED will never ever compete with custom neon sign work..... If I had my wagon tied to the big sign picture, I can see how I might be affected by the alleged diminished value of Neon Signs.

:weld:

[Brian]

We are staying busy here. But we have a full time sales person. The led stuff I have ran across has been pretty poorly lit up. Some of the businesses have had major issues with reliability especially with led border lighting.

So who knows

Brian

[Freddy@NDS]

You never know he may be located 10 miles out of town on a dirt road in the middle of no where so no one can find him. Location, location, location.

[dar..richmond]

new here..hello all ..! is it me or is bending /w PLIERS seem odd ??...

[Freddy@NDS]

new here..hello all ..! is it me or is bending /w PLIERS seem odd ??...

I guess it works in a pinch but I would imagine it increases hand,arm, wrist fatigue.

[Brian]

I guess with business so shitty he can't afford one of those high priced fancy trode holders

[YYZ]

I was in LA and Vegas on Monday/Tuesday and met with 4 different companies, none of which uses neon anymore unless specifically asked to. One guy in Vegas had this to say:

"Using neon is like using a carburetor. Nowadays only 'classic cars' have carburetors and pretty soon 'classic signs' will be the only ones using neon"

I don't know if the future for neon is quite that dire, but each passing year is seeing not only improvements with other technologies, but changing tastes as well. This is one thing that many don't factor into many of the discussions - how the 'look' of neon is seen by many to be dated, clunky, etc.

Edited May 1, 2008 by YYZ

[Brian]

ahh doom and gloom again - I may be wrong but wasn't neon on the way out with the advent of plastic faces?

NASCAR still uses carbs - are they classic cars? or is it that sometimes the old tried and true is better than belles a whistles

[Freddy@NDS]

I was in LA and Vegas on Monday/Tuesday and met with 4 different companies, none of which uses neon anymore unless specifically asked to. One guy in Vegas had this to say:

"Using neon is like using a carburetor. Nowadays only 'classic cars' have carburetors and pretty soon 'classic signs' will be the only ones using neon"

I don't know if the future for neon is quite that dire, but each passing year is seeing not only improvements with other technologies, but changing tastes as well. This is one thing that many don't factor into many of the discussions - how the 'look' of neon is seen by many to be dated, clunky, etc.

Well the same can be said for pen and paper - ever see a cashier use them or try to figure out something in their head - nope - dependant on the calculator. The dumbing of America. LEDs have their place and look at the packing installation note: for ages 1-3.

[Brian]

very true - neon was so outdated when those new modern and fancy square formed plastic faces hit the marked - now most retail buildings won't allow those modern faces to be used to be used Hmmmmmm