A Special Advertising Supplement to Shopping Center World

Survey respondents report that signage achieves three main objectives of store owners: conveying retailer image, increasing store traffic and serving as a mode of advertising.

Kohl's exterior signage is mirrored inside the shopping center. (Photo courtesy of Federal Sign.)

Big-name retailers such as JCPenney feature signage that merges with their overall marketing concept and packaging. (Photo courtesy of Federal Sign.)

"I have noticed that more and more retailers are literally using their sign images as part of their overall advertising messages," he says, adding that signs have become, and will continue to be, an essential component of a store's marketing thread. "Their sign images have shown up in their TV ads, on outdoor billboards and even on business cards. That overall branding and constant message has become crucial."

With increased emphasis placed on signage, says Ruchin, Federal Sign has committed itself to deepening its resources even further when the situation warrants. "Our mission is to identify what matters most to our customers," he says, adding that the company has delved head-first into such areas as fiber-optic technology and dimensional manufacturing because it was the most logical way to complete the assignment in its totality.

"We're a sizeable player in fiber optics because we understand the technology now," he says. "It has become one more added talent we have in our arsenal. We're trying to learn what matters most to our customers and fulfill their needs to the best of our ability."

Stotmeister notes that the ability of Federal Sign to satisfy customer needs is, in part, based on loosening restrictions on how signs can communicate their universal language. One of the only limits on Federal Sign's design creativity, he says, is the imagination.

"Signs are now starting to come out into the mall as opposed to being flat on the wall, and it provides a much more three-dimensional effect on the storefront," he says. "If you're a retailer with multiple store sites, you want it to say to the customer, 'Come on in.' For retailers, we think that's very important."•