Over the past few years or so the wholesale channel letter business has been heating up as more wholesalers enter the market and as more sign and graphics companies look for ways to farm out this product. One of the primary drivers in the wholesale channel letter market has been the now ubiquitous light emitting diode, a.k.a., the LED.

 

LEDs have made the manufacture and installation of channel letters a lot easier. That’s not to say that neon and other lighting sources are dead, just that the volume of channel letters and those that are lighted by LEDs has grown significantly.

 

Customers feel more comfortable with the estimate for a channel letter job if they understand how the sign will actually look and how it will work when completed. (Image courtesy of Faces, LLC)

“The most significant trend we’ve seen has been the industry’s conversion to LEDs, mainly for standard channel letters with plexi faces. Neon has become a very niche market. It’s certainly a strong niche market but the shift has been amazing as the competition has increased among LED manufacturers, bringing with it lower prices,” says Troy Crocker, president of Sign Faces LLC, a wholesale manufacturer based in Birmingham, Ala. “We do neon jobs every week, but the LEDs far outweigh the neon. I enjoy the look of neon, and we usually offer it as an option.” 

 

Lighting is obviously an important consideration, and there’s been an ongoing debate about which lighting source is most effective, but the choice will be determined by the parameters of the project: How large the letters are, the style of channel letter (front lit, backlit or halo, front lit/backlit and reverse, where there’s no face on the letter and lighting source is exposed) and the subjective aesthetics. The fact is that some customers will demand neon because they like the look of it, but most of the time it will be determined by the economics of the project.

 

If you’re new to selling channel letters or sell them infrequently, the partnership with the wholesale letter manufacturer is crucial. Their job is to understand the details of the manufactured pieces that make up the entire project. But if you want to make sure you meet the needs of the end use customer while maximizing your profit margin, do your homework ahead of time.

 

RULES AND REGULATIONS

The first and most important step is to know what your local regulator, typically your municipality, and the landlord or owner of the space will allow. Most channel letters, at least the projects you’ll tend to run into, are installed for tenants of strip malls and shopping centers. These centers will usually have their own specifications—normally dealing with the style and color of the letters—in addition to any local requirements.

 

Lighting is an important consideration. The choice will be determined by the parameters of the project. (Image courtesy of A.R.K. Ramos)

A common question for newbies is how to determine the square footage needed for the size of the letters. (Image courtesy of Direct Sign Wholesale)

“The most common question is how to determine the square footage needed for the size of the letters, which is a local requirement. Is it the square footage of the storefront that will determine the square footage of the sign? Typically, you’re allowed one and half times the storefront, so if you have a 20 foot storefront you can go up to 34 square feet,” explains John Lewis, owner of Direct Sign Wholesale in Denver.

 

Lewis adds that different cities may have different ways of measuring the square footage of your sign. Some, for instance, will take the highest letter and make a square from that high point that encompasses the length of the sign to figure out square footage.

 

“Another factor is simply the presentation to the customer to show them not only the cost estimate for the sign, but the artwork with sizing and cut sheets that show the details of the letters, like trim caps and returns. If the customer understands how the sign will look and work, they’re more likely to buy into the estimate,” adds Lewis.

 

Warren Sciortino, owner of Letter Fab in Crested Butte, Colo., recommends taking a digital picture of the storefront to share with the wholesale manufacturer to give them a visual of the environment for which they’re making the letters. All of this prep work will ensure there’s no miscommunication in any link of the chain, from the end use customer to the manufacturer.

 

“It’s not as simple as just buying a set of channel letters and putting it up on someone’s building. On an exterior sign, perhaps the most important thing is to find out how much square footage is allowed so when you design that set of channel letters they will fit within those parameters. Once you have those, take a digital picture of the front of the building and superimpose the letters on that picture,” says Sciortino. “Since most channel letters are installed in shopping centers, a lot of landlords specify the type of installation—either on a raceway or each letter individually—so this is another thing to ask the customer to find out before you get started.”

 

It’s often a good idea to take a digital picture of the storefront to share with the wholesale manufacturer. Good prep work will ensure that there’s no miscommunication in any link of the chain. (Image courtesy of Faces, LLC)

SALES TO INSTALLATION

Most wholesalers provide shop drawings you can refer to on their website, as well as a variety of educational materials about the different types of channel letters and how they may work for your project. And, of course, there is a plethora of educational videos you can find on YouTube or just by Googling. Since the Internet is the Wild West of information, double-check your assumptions based on what you’ve found through your research with the wholesale manufacturer.

 

“Another key factor in education is going to the industry trade shows and actually talking to the manufacturers and looking at the samples. Making a trip to a local manufacturer would be a good idea as well,” says David Wommer, president of A.R.K. Ramos in Oklahoma City. “Learn the various components that make up a channel letter and how they affect the proposal to the customer: Letter style, size, thickness, application, what the letters are mounted to, how they’re lighted, whether access is needed behind the wall and the different finishes. A lot of people are specifying anodized finishes on fabricated letters when the new painted finishes are probably superior; the new polyurethanes and powder coats will outlast anodized finishes.”

 

Wommer adds that understanding how the letter style impacts the manufacture of the letter will save time and money since you won’t be asking the manufacturer to fit the proverbial round peg into the square hole. 

 

“If you have a block letter, you can make the channel letter a lot deeper than you can with a serif letter style,” he explains. “To get your bang for the buck out of buying wholesale channel letters, you need to educate the customer up front about what can and cannot be manufactured. You can still give them a terrific looking sign and close to what they’re looking for that’s also within the parameters of the industry. There may have to be a compromise, but the end user can’t tell the difference.” 

 

When it comes to installation the easiest thing to do is to simply subcontract it to a company licensed to handle electrical work. The wholesale manufacturer is likely to know of and recommend qualified companies in your area.

 

Essentially, you’re brokering most of the work involved with channel letters while concentrating on what you do best. Doing it this way, rather than turning down those projects, expands your market base and provides an additional profit source. Not bad. 

“I think it’s simpler than selling digital printing, and we can often get it out just as quickly to the customer,” says Sciortino.