Seen here, staff fabricates plexiglass stands and welds custom A-frames.
SMC: How is technology changing your business?
JL: One of the coolest changes I have seen during my time in this business is how traditional glass neon has transitioned into LED flex neon. The difference between the two is that LED flex neon requires less maintenance, costs less, offers more energy efficiency, and installs easier than traditional glass neon.
Another nice change for lightbox signs was moving from fluorescent lamps to LED lighting. Using LED gave us the advantage of faster production times, and the LED drivers weren’t as heavy as the fluorescent transformers.
Also, being in the retail products industry does not go hand-in-hand with shipping requirements. The transit costs are usually very high because we have boxes in mixed sizes that are either small and heavy, or big and light. To address this, we have designed several items that are collapsible and easier to ship and, hopefully, we can have more products in the future to combat the high cost of couriers.
SMC: What is the key to staying successful in this industry?
JL: Stay focused and always keep an open mind when it comes to learning from your peers. The key in staying successful in the industry is to build a solid team to back up your vision. Being in the signage and retail store supplies industry is tough. Trends change fast and our job is to offer business owners the right information and build a strong relationship network.
SMC: What are the future plans for your business?
JL: Our future plans for the business are to scale into a bigger facility and switch the dynamic of our business model, open more locations within Canada, continue to expand our product catalogue, and cut costs for our clientele to grow their businesses.
SMC: How has COVID-19 affected your business? How did the shop cope?
JL: “When the going gets tough, the tough get going!” These are words we lived by to hold down the fort during the pandemic.
I believe it had a big impact on the majority of sign shops, but challenges have helped many of us grow and continue to take the necessary steps to keep our business moving in the right direction.
When COVID began, we sat down and had to re-think our strategy on how to continue to serve our customers as best we could. Our clients are a group of business individuals who are also at risk. By keeping them afloat, we keep ourselves afloat. Luckily, with the right partners and control over our manufacturing costs, we were able to design and fabricate a variety of plexiglass shields, hand sanitizer stands, health signage, and directional floor stands for our resellers and local business owners with a quick turnaround time. Although this kept us busy, it goes without saying COVID has definitely changed how businesses operate, and the steps we need to take to continue to serve our clients in the years ahead.
