Have you been driving down a Toledo-area street and seen a cute sign in someone’s yard? Not hand-written, or even printed, but a delightful series of bold, professional looking letters on a post stuck into the ground with precision, announcing “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” Or “CONGRATULATIONS!” Or maybe even “IT’S A BOY!”
Jodi Aiken, along with her sister Abbi Tauber, are the Northwest Ohio franchisee of Sign Greeters, a new company that specializes in yard signs for customers who have something to promote or celebrate. “They’re yard greetings for any occasion. Basically we do anything from birthdays to anniversaries to ‘welcome back to school.’ Anything you can think of to celebrate any occasion,” Jodi said.
Adding fun
Sign Greeters, a new company launched in April by a pair of college friends in Georgia, has a pretty simple idea — customers log on to the Sign Greeters website and specify the sign they want, and the date the sign should be placed. After paying a rental fee, the sign is posted on the appropriate day with the greeting/ message as requested.
Jodi does the actual sign-placing as Abbi lives in Florida. While the pair had wanted to start a business together for a long time. “We both have full-time jobs, and we wanted to add something fun, career-wise, to our full time jobs,” Jodi said. Abbi is the one who primarily works on coordinating and communicating with the customer, from taking the initial order all the way through touching base for follow up feedback. “Any kind of feedback to help us do better the next time, ” Jodi said.
The Northwest Ohio branch of Sign Greeters includes Greater Toledo and surrounding communities, as well as Temperance and Lambertville in Michigan. Surprisingly, starting a new business in the age of COVID hasn’t been a hindrance for the sisters— if anything, social isolation has helped them. “I would say, basically, it’s because people cannot do large gatherings, people are trying to think outside of the box,” Jodi said. “Allowing us to put a sign in someone’s yard, that allows us to help them celebrate that occasion. And I would say that it’s really increased [bookings] across the board.”
Whatever their clients feel like celebrating or promoting, the important thing for the sisters is helping bring a splash of color and fun to their big day. “Whatever we can do to help anybody celebrate, or get the word out about an event, we want to be there to help them.”
For more information about Sign Greeters or to place an order, visit Jodi and Abbi’s website.
