Technology Scrolling Across City

[Erik Sine]

About 65 video boards, known as Galaxy displays, have been installed for businesses in Sioux Falls. Companies such as kota Grille o­n Minnesota Avenue use the popular displays.(Grant Griffith / Argus Leader)

As the sun sets o­n Sioux Falls' major streets, red brake lights aren't all that's shining.Above the pavement, dancing graphics and flashing text shine bright o­n signs in front of local businesses.The number of LED video displays in the city has grown in recent years as businesses take advantage of a booming South Dakota-developed technology.Brookings-based Daktronics is the primary manufacturer of the signs, which are quickly gaining popularity in Sioux Falls and across the nation.Branded as Galaxy displays, the signs boast monochrome and color faces, with animations and video.About 65 commercial Galaxy displays have been installed in Sioux Falls, most in the past year or so. As technology advances and the signs become cheaper, LED video boards could reach the the popularity that neon had decades ago."It comes down to content. If you don't have effective content, people won't notice," said Connie Schelske, director of marketing at Daktronics. "The colors, shading and animations offer a way to fit any market."Since 1997, Daktronics has sold more than 1,500 Galaxy displays. The company has sold about $50 million worth of the signs in the past year alone, with about $1.5 million in South Dakota. The boards are popping up at locations from fast food restaurants to grocery stores and bus depots around the world.Smoother video, higher definition and brighter colors continually push sales as businesses look for new ways to grab customers.Z'kota Grille installed 8- by 4-foot signs this spring at its locations in Sioux Falls and Brookings. Messages and animations are controlled from a personal computer with special software.Owner Scott Fritz uses the automated technology to target customers throughout the day."We had conventional displays before, but now we can advertise a different breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack messages different days of week," Fritz said. "It's much more flexible. We've definitely seen an increase in customers."Changing the lettering o­n traditional signs gets cumbersome. Fritz said his employees have embraced the signs as well."My operators tell me it beats the dickens out of standing outside with a metal pole in January."Although Daktronics has been known historically for its scoreboards and stadium video displays, Schelske said the company always has developed retail signs in addition to other displays."We've always had a focus o­n the outdoor displays. They're just becoming more visible now," she said. "We're finding sign advertising very cost efficient. Unlike TV commercials, businesses actually own their adverting medium."But the high visibility comes at a cost. The Galaxy signs range from $10,000 to $150,000. Standard sizes go from about 2-by-4 feet up to 15-by-33 feet. And custom signs can be made to almost any specifications.Often the displays are sold through sign companies such as Pride, Ace and Rosenbaum's Signs in Sioux Falls.Many other companies make similar signs, including Daktronics' top competitor, Illinois-based Time-O-Matic.Schelske said Daktronics' local support makes its product more appealing. About 40 field offices around the country install and repair the signs.

-SAM BURRISH, Argus Leader.com