MattC1522

Call Design To Print in Utah. Ask for Ryan. They have great prices and their customer service can't be beat. http://dtp8.com/

We use LEDs for 90% of the channel letters that we make. We haven't had much of a problem in about a years worth of fabricating. We usually switch between using Sloan and JS LED depending on the application. Sloan has been very reliable and we have no complaints. It doesn't seem like such a good idea however to use a "prototype" for such a far away install and for Kohl's only store in the area. They are going to be watching that sign like a hawk I am sure.

Haha, I like the sound of that. We'll just go pick up enough stuff to pay off the money they owe us and leave it at that.

We are going well over 120 days being owed about $3 k. From the sound of it we are fortunate that we aren't owed more. We haven't gotten a single word back from them in about 3 months. We did receive a letter with the CEO and CFO phone numbers, but they have been reluctant to call us back.

The main thing other than the cost of the truck to look out for is insurance on the vehicle, liability insurance and workers compensation insurance that go along with it. Sign installation and service can be dangerous work and you certainly have to pay for it for insurance. Just be sure to research this in great detail when seeing if doing the work yourself will save you enough. The good thing about owning a good lift is that if business gets slow you can always find service work to help pay for it.

My father an I own a Sign-A-Rama in Greensboro, NC. We bought it from the original owner about 5 years ago. Since the business was already relatively established I can not say how well SAR helps out from the get go. I do know that they were very helpful and continue to be very helpful with whatever we need. Personally I could not see being with any of the other franchisees. SAR is the only franchise with a cap on royalties and does not force a percentage on you for advertising. They do have a very knowledgeable staff but the main benefit of being a part of the franchise is the owners. We have a network of almost 1,000 owners now who have been through just about any experience that can be faced in the sign industry (and that as we know is quite a bit). We are one of the larger stores now, having more than doubled our business since we bought it. I do not personally think we would have been able to do this through any of the franchises as we would not have had as much to put back into the business. Now we have a 17,000 sq ft facility and manufacture our own signs and even though we don't need it as much anymore corporate is always asking what they can do to help. If you want to be told exactly how to run your business and don't want a choice as to how you use your advertising dollars the other franchisees are just fine. But if you want more control and the largest number of franchisee support you should definitely stick to Sign-A-Rama. Sorry if it sounds like I am trying to sell them too much, but they do have a very good program and I would recommend that if you know someone who is interested have them give corporate a call or I would be more than happy to discuss our experiences.