“When I had started consulting with Landmark in the early 2000s, it was a decent shop,” says Shepherd, “but we acquired more equipment, including a computerized paint system, a large computer numerical control (CNC) router, a paint booth large enough to accommodate a semi-trailer truck. Soon, we also added more installation vehicles, including a 23.5-m (77-ft) crane truck and a 18.3-m (60-ft) bucket truck.”
These investments helped position Landmark for growth well beyond its existing client base.
Landmark handles its own sign installations and service locally and throughout central British Columbia.
“After targeting local businesses, we hired new, experienced sales representatives to help expand our base of corporate customers,” Shepherd says. “As we built our team and concentrated on ensuring efficient service, we divided Landmark into two divisions for local and national clientele.”
Today, Shepherd is Landmark’s general manager, overseeing some 23 employees working with new sign fabrication equipment and trucks.
“In the past, I did everything,” says Cunningham, including sales, artwork, fabrication, permit applications and installations. Now, Ryan manages the day-to-day operations as I focus on new business endeavours.”
One-stop shop
Landmark has manufactured all types of signs, illuminated and non-illuminated, as it pursues larger and larger jobs—and has added new equipment as required—but primarily focuses its efforts on large-scale illuminated signs and custom work.
“It’s all hand fabrication work, such as channel letter bending,” Cunningham explains. “We try to do everything in-house.”
In the past few years, Landmark has comprised two divisions, with one serving local customers and the other focusing on national clients.
“We rarely ever have to outsource sign fabrication, except waterjet cutting once in a blue moon or major structural projects that require the bending of thick tubing,” adds Shepherd. “That all represents less than five per cent of our work. A lot of other sign shops subcontract work out, which is sometimes cheaper, but then you have no quality control. Our ability to handle almost anything in-house is one of the main reasons some of our corporate clients choose to work with us.”
Today, Landmark’s major clients still include Lordco and Iris Optical, along with newer customers like Wok Box and Telus.
“We became the biggest sign company on Vancouver Island partly because of our speed and efficiency and partly because we were very aggressive about sales,” says Shepherd.
Landmark now has enough resources to handle its own sign installations locally and throughout central British Columbia, but subcontracts the work to other installers throughout Canada when serving more distant customers.
“We’re not relying only on the local economy,” Cunningham says. “We have streamlined our shipping deals for a wider territory and we have built a reliable network of subcontractor installers throughout the years. We have also built relationship with permit departments across Canada. We’re like an assembly line now, always moving stuff out.”
Landmark’s newer major clients include Telus and Wok Box.
“We’re still a major competitor in Victoria, but ideally, we want to keep growing as a one-stop shop both locally and nationally,” says Shepherd. “We’ve established new sales reps to work with accounts across Canada. We want a balance, so if the local market becomes quiet, we have work all over the country to pick up the slack.”
Given the past few years of business growth, it should be no wonder Landmark is ready to move to yet another facility.
“We’re really out of space again and are currently looking for a larger facility that would meet our needs,” says Cunningham. “If we had a 1,858-m2 (20,000-sf) warehouse all on one level, with a mezzanine and offices in front, it would be perfect.”
For more information, visit www.landmarksign.net.
