Sign company adjusts to meet changing needs during pandemic, and to help
Wally Farris, owner of Signs Now in Moses Lake, holds up a few of the ready-made COVID-19 signage they have available for customers.
Gino Laszlo, a graphic designer with Signs Now in Moses Lake, works on a trailer side decal in the back of the store on Wednesday afternoon.
Signs and postings like the ones seen here outside Samaritan Clinic in Moses Lake have been popular items since March.
Social distancing floor markers, like the one seen here in the Signs Now store in Moses Lake, have been popular items since the coronavirus came into play in March.
A line of signs being made by Signs Now Moses Lake for Samaritan Healthcare facilities.
MOSES LAKE — Printed stickers on floors and “masks required” signs have become common sights since the coronavirus pandemic came into play in March. Businesses have been forced to adopt new health guidelines and strategies to help keep their stores going this year.
Wally Farris, owner of Signs Now in Moses Lake and his team of graphic professionals have helped take on the task with his sign company in helping other store owners ensure they can help communicate these new rules and regulations with their customers. While the floor markers might not be the most exciting projects the business works on, Farris said meeting the needs of the community was important when the coronavirus first struck locally.
“We had to look at all the elements of visual communication that we do and we have facilities that need to communicate their messages,” Farris said. “That’s where we step in, whether that’s floor decals or carryout only signage.”
Since March, Farris said he has worked to find solutions to meet the needs of his customers. The surge in demand for these new items came almost immediately in late March and early April, he said.
In almost a panic, he said businesses rushed to get their message out, whether it be letting customers know they were closed temporarily or shifting to an online-only business format.
Business for Signs Now was not as usual either as Farris had to get clarification from the state on how the business would need to operate.
“We have a small lobby here, so like a lot of other businesses, we locked the doors and were setting things out to try and make people feel safe,” Farris said.
While calls from medical facilities and other local businesses and restaurants for distancing and health guideline signage rose significantly, Farris said, there was also a big drop in calls for the typical events and gatherings the business usually gets.
Farris said it wasn’t so much an increase in business as a pivot from one focus to another.
“It’s something we were thankful to maintain and keep going, but a lot of our various promotions and events didn’t happen,” Farris said.
There were a few issues to overcome with the supply chain. Comparing it to the toilet paper shortage early on, he said, everyone in the industry was taking the popular items off the shelves.
Farris said the business had to make some changes, offering alternatives for some of the unavailable items.
Seeing the struggles of so many other local businesses in recent months has been difficult, he said, but the business has tried to be a resource and help.
“When the pandemic first hit, we started with donating banners that had takeout available and things like that,” Farris said. “We made a list of health guideline posters and made those available at no charge. These are the resources available to us, so let’s do our part to get things out there to people.”
The demand for signage and distancing markers has come and gone with surges in cases and changes in regulations from the state level.
Farris said it is hard to say how long the demand for these items will continue, but he is happy to meet the needs of the community as they come.
Casey McCarthy can be reached via email at cmccarthy@columbiabasinherald.com.
