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Posted on by Jennifer Corn Posted in Technology & Products
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LexJet Impresses at the FASTSIGNS Convention

The 2019 International FASTSIGNS Convention was held Jan. 17 in Orlando, Fla., and the S-One Signs & Graphics (S-OneSG) team from LexJet was on hand to discuss the newest products available to all LexJet customers, including the FASTSIGNS franchises.

The team spoke with FASTSIGNS representatives from all over the country about profitable new opportunities: the latex printable EnduraFab™ Fabrics and SignComp SEG-less framing systems, which create clean, easy-to-install soft-signage displays when partnered together.

While the fabrics and framing were a hit in the Now Trending booth, it was the new line-up of HP Adhesive Vinyl that was the real star of the show. LexJet Sales Specialist Brian Feeney – who is not a professional installer – was on hand to show everyone how easy these products are to install, due to the air-release liner.

The on-hand demonstrations certainly captivate an audience, but it is the cost savings per roll that always garners the most attention. With such a price difference – as much as $0.20/sf savings based on MSRP – many people were pleased to discover the HP Adhesive Vinyl products would perform as well, if not better than, the products they are currently using.

By the end of the show, the FASTSIGNS team members were excited to delve into new profitable markets as well as explore money-saving opportunities with LexJet and the S-OneSG team.

If you would like to find out more about EnduraFab and SignComp framing or see how much money you can save with HP Adhesive Vinyl, give us a call at 800-453-9538 or visit LexJet.com.

Posted on by Shellie Terry Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Epson’s S60600 a “Well Thought-Out Machine” for New FASTSIGNS Shop

When Liz Allen’s entrepreneurial spirit kicked in, and she decided to open up a FASTSIGNS franchise in Oviedo, Fla., she had a number of items on her to-do list, but perhaps few as important as purchasing a wide-format printer for the shop. When attending the ISA Sign Expo in Orlando earlier this year, she jumped on a discount offered in a show special, and purchased an Epson SureColor S60600 64-inch solvent printer from LexJet.

The Epson SureColor S60600 at FASTSIGNS Store 2106 in Oviedo, Fla.
The Epson SureColor S60600 at FASTSIGNS Store 2106 in Oviedo, Fla.

“FASTSIGNS did recommend the Epson,” Allen says. “We chose it because of its speed. It was three times faster than the other printer we looked at.”

Allen opened her new FASTSIGNS store in July, and because she’s new to wide-format printing, she hired Mike Howell, a seasoned sign shop printer, to manage production of banners, floor graphics, magnets and more of the shop’s offerings.

“I’ve been in the sign business for 30 years,” Howell says. “I saw the Epson printer when I was at FASTSIGNS corporate office, so I was able to get my hands on the printer. It’s very quick — a lot faster than a lot of the other machines I’ve used.”

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Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Hole in One with a Custom Golf Ball Print on a Tire Cover

Tire cover graphics

Every so often, that oddball project walks into the shop that allows you to test new materials and production methods. In the case pictured here, it was a golf ball project for a customer’s tire cover on the back of their Hummer.

The challenge was the surface of the tire cover, which wasn’t the typical soft vinyl or fabric, but a semi-rigid, slick, pebbled surface that would be difficult for a typical vinyl graphics application. This project drove to FastSigns – Airway in El Paso and gave manager Alan Russell an excuse to test LexJet’s Simple MTS Adhesive Vinyl.

Russell says that he had already begun experimenting with the high-tack vinyl designed for multi-textured surfaces on the floors of a local industrial complex, Mallory Manufacturing Company, but also gets the call for off-the-wall applications to slick and textured surfaces on the sides of Porta Potties and trash cans.

Applying graphics to a tire cover“The tire cover is a low-energy plastic with a real nasty pebble-grained texture that nothing sticks to,” explains Russell. “The wrinkle for us was that they had Armor-All’d the crap out of it. We used Simple Green and a scrub brush so that it wasn’t so shiny and slick. Then, after we did that two or three times, we applied alcohol to the surface and let it dry to prepare it for the graphics.”

The golf ball image was printed on a Mimaki JV33 solvent printer, laminated with an optically-clear cast vinyl, and die cut to its 36″ x 36″ circular dimensions. Then, Russell put some reference marks on the tire cover to align the graphics, put the tire cover on the board to give it more rigidity for application and applied the graphic.

“We didn’t use application tape; we just laid it in the middle of the tire cover. We didn’t have it perfectly aligned the first time, so we just popped it up, repositioned it and squeegeed it with a normal squeegee,” explains Russell. “We used a rivet brush with the backing paper on top to protect the graphic and just brushed it into the cover; we didn’t use any heat. The edges laid out smooth, flat and gorgeously and we just hung it back on the truck. He took it to Colorado and it still looks great.”

Originally, the client wanted to wrap the entire cover, but Russell discouraged that concept since he felt a wrap would be much more difficult, thus more expensive for the client, and it would simply look better in the middle of the cover. Russell was right, as the golf ball stands out surrounded by the black of the tire cover.

“The image quality of the Simple MTS was as good if not better than most vinyl we’ve used. It has more of a matte vinyl look and feel, and that’s why it takes the ink much better, especially with solvent printers. It die-cut the first time perfectly and laminated beautifully, plus the fact that it’s fairly thick it lays like a 2×4; the thicker it is, the easier it is for my staff to apply. When you throw a laminate on it you’re at around 7 mils, which is why it applied so nicely without tape. For those relatively flat applications, like Porta-Potties and floors, it’s perfect,” says Russell. “In real life it looks even more three dimensional; it’s very deceiving. It was perfect, and the black of the tire cover trimmed it out nicely. We also added a slight grey outline to blend it into the cover.”

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Behind the Scenes with the Undercover Boss, FASTSIGNS’ CEO Catherine Monson

CBS reality show Undercover Boss covers Fastsigns
FASTSIGNS CEO Catherine Monson as "Louise Steely," and Gary, a Culver City FASTSIGNS employee, apply graphics during the filming of Undercover Boss, which aired on CBS last Friday. Photo courtesy Studio Lambert.

Reality is not always as it seems, especially reality television. Just ask FASTSIGNS CEO Catherine Monson, who was recently immersed in the unreal world of reality television. Monson and several FASTSIGNS locations were featured on Undercover Boss, which aired this past Friday, May 4, on CBS.

When hours of raw footage are condensed into about 45 minutes of air time, distortion is inevitable. Surprisingly, however, this particular episode of Undercover Boss was relatively accurate, according to Monson.

“I was disappointed by some of the things they left out, and I felt they overemphasized the emotional aspects, but that’s what makes for compelling television,” says Monson. “When they first approached us about being involved with the show, we weighed the pros and cons and how it could possibly affect the brand. We decided the pros outweighed the cons, and that was certainly the case.”

In case you didn’t catch the show Friday night, Monson disguised herself and went to work in the trenches at four FASTSIGNS locations: St. Louis, Austin, Culver City (Calif.), and Phoenix. Each contact at the location was told that they were filming a reality show called Second Chances, and Monson’s “character” was the subject, so it was kind of a show within a show.

During the episode we learned about the struggles and triumphs of not only Monson, but the people at the four locations at which she worked. Monson says the four locations were chosen after the production company scouted and scoured the FASTSIGNS franchise network for the most interesting stories.

I won’t spoil those stories for you here, in case you didn’t catch it when it aired, since you can see the full episode at http://www.cbs.com/shows/undercover_boss/video/. The show will no longer be available at the CBS website after May 21.

“It is unnerving to have two HD cameras on you ten hours a day. Yes, I was nervous, and people got to see that I can’t make a sign, and I made a bit of a fool of myself at times, but that’s okay, because I think it’s not only a great thing for our company, but also the industry as a whole. Not a lot of people know that a sign shop can do vehicle graphics and all kinds of different signs, all the way up to big outdoor installations,” says Monson. “When we were first allowed to let our franchises know about it, they were very excited. We advertise on FOX, CNN and MSNBC, but we can’t afford advertising time on CBS in prime time on Friday night, so the extra exposure was great for everyone. Our franchise partners did an amazing job putting up all kinds of graphics to promote the show. And because it’s such a unique show, some of our franchisees got a lot of coverage from local media. There were 125 viewing parties around the country where they invited customers to watch the show and do some of the things I did on the show, like weeding vinyl.”

Beyond the personal stories at the locations she visited undercover, Monson was able to identify three areas of improvement for FASTSIGNS corporate: E-mail marketing, training and eCommerce. Monson took the suggestions to heart and FASTSIGNS corporate has begun to implement them.

“We’ve made some good progress. Not only do we have an on-your-behalf email marketing program, we have a do-it-yourself marketing where the individual franchise can completely customize the template,” says Monson. “I really learned that we need to ensure that all of our information about marketing initiatives, programs and training reaches everyone at each franchise. Also, we are almost finished with our training curriculum on big outdoor installations, and we have eight locations using our eCommerce website, and plan to start rolling that out to more locations in the weeks ahead.”

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in News & Trends
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FASTSIGNS CEO Goes Undercover Friday Night on CBS

Undercover Boss on CBS
FASTSIGNS CEO Catherine Monson weeding vinyl at a FASTSIGNS franchise shop during the filming of Undercover Boss, which airs Friday at 8 p.m. ET.

FASTSIGNS and its CEO, Catherine Monson, will be featured on the CBS reality television show, Undercover Boss, this Friday at 8 p.m. ET.

In case you’re not familiar with the concept of the show, a company’s owner/CEO is disguised and goes to work as a regular employee. Their experience is captured, edited and condensed to one hour of dramatic and comedic highlights.

According to FASTSIGNS, when Monson became CEO of the 25-year-old company in 2009, one of the biggest issues the company was facing was a lack of communication between the corporate office and its franchise partners, as well as sales declines coinciding with the recession.

Monson embarked on a tour around the country to visit franchise partners and put a plan in place to turn the company around, including creating a sales incentive program. She initiated monthly conference calls with the franchise system to provide updates and answer questions and concerns.

To further develop and motivate the corporate staff, she began holding monthly company meetings to share financial updates and other company news, and to publicly praise team members on their projects and efforts.   

Reality show Undercover Boss on CBS
FASTSIGNS CEO Catherine Monson before being disguised for the CBS reality show Undercover Boss.

Through her Undercover Boss experience, FASTSIGNS says, Monson gained valuable insight into key areas of the business that she will continue to fine-tune and improve in the coming months.

“This was an eye opening experience that not only impacted my professional life, but my personal life as well,” said Monson. “I have realized that I need to take more time for myself and get back to the things that I really love in order to become a better leader and CEO.”

Check back here at the LexJet Blog for a follow-up post with more inside information about how reality television really works based on Monson’s experience on Undercover Boss. Here’s a preview of Friday’s show…

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Technology & Products
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Banner Stands with a Lifetime Warranty: LexJet Now Offers Expand Banner Stands

Banner stands display graphicsLexJet has teamed up with Expand International of America to provide its customers with high-quality portable banner stands that enhance displays for a professional, subtle and sleek look in a variety of applications. All but one of the banner stands from Expand being offered by LexJet come with a lifetime warranty.

Expand has certified all the banner stands, excepting the MediaScreen 2 Outdoor, for the following LexJet inkjet media:

“In the some 12 years that I have been setting up companies to resell Expand displays, the question always comes up: ‘What do you recommend as media to print on?’ For years we had no answer,” explains Don Johnson, National Account Manager for Expand International of America Inc. “That’s why I am excited about working with LexJet. Now we can offer our printers a reliable source of solvent and aqueous media that has been proven in our hardware. They work and are a real value. That is what people want.”

The feeling is mutual, according to LexJet’s product manager Dione Metnick. “The Expand line of banner stands gives our customers a top-of-the-line choice to combine with LexJet’s media for the discerning end user – an end user who understands that for a slightly higher price in the short term they’ll save money over the long haul, especially with the lifetime warranty that comes with the banner stands,” says Metnick.

The following Expand banner stands are now available and shipping:

  • Expand MediaScreen 1: Retractable display with an adjustable telescopic pole
  • Expand MediaScreen 2 Indoor: Two retractable banner stands in one with a clamping profile so the pole doesn’t protrude above the image
  • Expand MediaScreen 2 Outdoor: Double-sided display with support feet, a resilient support pole for added stability and made with weather-resistant materials
  • Expand MediaScreen XL: Patented magnetic connectors allow users to easily link two or more displays
  • Expand MediaScreen 4: A great choice for users who need to change the image frequently
  • Expand QuickScreen 1: The standard for retractable banner stands features a compact shape and timeless design for almost any environment
  • Expand QuickScreen 3:  The patented removable cassette allows users to easily change graphics in the field
  • Expand BannerStand: Non-retractable lightweight display with a slim design in 17 different sizes
  • Expand SmartStand: It has a telescopic pole that makes it easy to change the height and adapt the image to suit specific needs
  • Expand XStand: Functional and cost effective marketing display that’s lightweight and easy to assemble

“We love the Expand banner stands because the hardware is ten times better than anything else out there. Expand has always been great if we’ve had any issues with the banner stands, which we rarely ever do,” says Carrie Dubbelde of FASTSIGNS, Roseville, Minn. “We have a group of customers who only want the Expand banner stands because they understand the value they bring from a cost standpoint over time and the impact they make for them at a trade show, special event or other display application.”