Ever-Changing Signs Attract Attention in Fenton

A car wash on Leroy Street in Fenton advises, “Dirty cars turn here.”

And a church on North Road invites people in, with its sign saying the walls won’t fall in if they visit.

Many Fenton businesses have been using clever signs to get people thinking and get them in the door. With drivers passing by in a rush, the lettering needs to be clear, large and fairly brief for people to read it, business owners say.

One of the most well-known signs in Fenton stands outside Harris Financial Services, 1115 North LeRoy Street. Rob Harris, MBA investment consultant, is the third generation of his family to be in charge of the lettering on the sign.

Recently, one side of the sign read, “Santa’s helpers are subordinate clauses.”

Another pronounced, “Being over the hill is better than being under it.”

He tries to put a smile on people’s faces and make them think, Harris said. He said he has carried on the clever slogans from his retired father and grandfather, and he believes the sign has been good for business through the years. While Harris sometimes uses a political statement, the elder Harrises were “a little more political," he said. “We’re a little less so.”

Still, he and the other staff members at try to be insightful and inject some humor, Harris said. Occasionally, they reuse a statement for a sign, especially if it pertains to a holiday.

“We have our favorites, so occasionally we recycle them. But we try not to,” he said.

Everyone in the office contributes, and if someone runs across a neat or small, pithy saying, they put it in the collection for a future sign. In addition, clients sometimes contribute a saying, Harris said.

He receives many comments on the sign and invites people to call and comment. Some say they really like a certain sign, while other times the “witty humor doesn’t come off as we expect,” he said. Still, “We appreciate any comments people have to make.”

And Harris appreciates phone calls if someone has rearranged the sign so it reads as something inappropriate. "We correct that as soon as we can," he said. There have been a couple of these incidents.

One saying that Harris Financial Services uses often, in the spring, is a “con-grad-ulations” to graduates. Invariably, employees receive calls that the word is misspelled and should read, “congratulations.” Now, they try to make it as obvious as they can that it’s a pun, Harris said.

Another sign-writer in Fenton is Carol McAlister, owner of Yard ‘N Garden Center, 603 W. Silver Lake Road. She bought the sign more than 25 years ago, from a door-to-door salesman, McAlister said.  She is using the same sign, 25 years later, but what's on the sign is always different.

Recently, one side of the Yard 'N Garden sign read, "Flowers give smiles and hugs. Have you?" From the other direction, it said, "Are your plants ready for winter? Stop in."

McAlister is the one who climbs the ladder and changes the letters herself. She knows she has 14 spaces per line and four lines.

In the morning, she sits down with a cup of coffee, paper and pencil and thinks about what idea she wants to get across, she said. “I say a prayer, and say, ‘Hey, God, got any ideas?’

"It's as the mood strikes, or if I need to get a point across regarding almost anything."

It has to be something that people can read quickly, she said. In addition, the sign often has a seasonal message. Employees at Yard ‘N Garden contribute ideas, and the signs get people talking and coming into the store, McAlister said.

Through the years, the sign has been good for business at Yard 'N Garden and has attracted customers, she said. Frequently, customers comment on the signs and say they saw something on it.

"That may have been five months ago, but they saw it on the sign," she said.

In previous years, she kept a list of the different sayings on the sign but has since given that up. With different sayings as often as every week or two, McAlister has had a lot of different ones.

She admires the sign at Harris Financial Services.

“I love their signs,” McAlister said. “They make me think, ‘I’d better get my sign changed.’”

For those who don’t drive by as often, Harris now posts photographs of Harris Financial’s sign on Facebook.

If anyone has suggestions for the Harris Financial Services sign, they can call (810) 629-4900. Occasionally, Harris lists milestone birthdays (such as someone’s 75th), or local events that need additional exposure, he said. And, for clients, they send a postcard of the sign with the client’s name and “Happy birthday” on it.