When the Friday, May 4th episode of the hit CBS reality series Undercover Boss runs, FASTSIGNS CEO Catherine Monson will don a disguise and see how her company runs from the inside. The question is: Was the episode filmed at our local FASTSIGNS store on Pacific Avenue in Lacey?
“I actually can’t divulge whether she did or not,” says franchise owner Grace Kendall, with a warm laugh. “Here’s what I can tell you: There are 530 locations. What are the odds?”
Kendall is going to host a “Viewing Party” on Friday night when it airs on CBS for customers and business partners who are supervisors, bosses, and owners to enjoy food, wine and beer while watching the episode. See a preview at www.fastsigns.com/undercoverboss
“It’s on Friday night at 8 o’clock and I hope everyone will watch it,” she says.
The company branding “more than fast and more than signs” perfectly sums up the direction in which the 25-year-old company has been headed. Monson became CEO in 2009 and has since spearheaded positive changes in the corporation and its franchises, including a branding transformation to further emphasize why FASTSIGNS is the top sign and graphics company in the country.
“I don’t sell signs. I sell our expertise and our project management skills to help our clients maneuver through the many considerations that may not be ‘top of mind,’” adds Kendall.
Kendall bought her Lacey shop 12 years ago, right before retiring from 24 years of service in the military.
“Some friends had opened this store a couple years previously, but wanted to move back to Portland to be closer to family,” she says. “They jokingly offered it, and I took it seriously.”
FASTSIGNS has always been at the same Lacey location on Pacific Avenue, but is feeling some growing pains. “We’re looking for a new space that offers a lot more room,” Kendall says.
Though she’s technically the owner, president, and CEO of her FASTSIGNS location, Kendall jokes that she’s also the secretary, treasurer, and any other title you can think of.
But Kendall doesn’t mind wearing all those hats. “I’ve had to learn to just sit back, smile, and laugh,” she says of running the demanding business. And above all, she says, she considers herself a business partner to her clients.
She currently has a staff of six, including an intern marketing person, two warm yet professional sales people, a talented graphic designer, a hardworking production person, and gifted router operator.
“We are sign consultants,” Kendall says. “we ask many questions to understand your project so we can best educate you on the products that will not only do what you want it to do at a reasonable price but to also foster a business partner relationship.”
A customer often comes into her shop asking for a certain product. But once Kendall starts asking questions – How will they use it? Where? Who is their target audience? – they usually find that what they want isn’t always what they need.
Kendall’s years of experience help her maneuver clients through all the details to pin down exactly the right product.
“Signs can only do three things: inform, direct, and sell,” she says. But those are three very powerful functions. Imagine an airport with no signs.
FASTSIGNS does everything from small decals up to large monuments or vehicle wraps. They also do project management, helping to devise plans for architectural signage inside buildings, for instance – the way-finding signs that get you from the parking lot to the building, and then where you’re going once you’re inside.
One example of a huge project FASTSIGNS successfully took on was a $100,000 job for Fort Lewis, creating and installing nearly 2,000 signs for 10 buildings.
The types of signs FASTSIGNS can produce and install are seemingly endless. From banners, building signs, and trade show displays, to yard signs, vehicle graphics, and more, if it can be dreamt up, FASTSIGNS can do it.
Kendall’s FASTSIGNS shop has done lots of vehicle wraps, including the Titus-Will vehicles seen around Thurston County, and she says it’s one of the most powerful and cost-effective forms of advertising. “It goes everywhere,” she says. “You’re not just standing in one place, like a building. A vehicle wrap will see 600 impressions per mile.”
The Lacey FASTSIGNS is also an Americans with Disabilities Act-certified company and has the Braille balls and the necessary machinery to make signs that are compliant with ADA requirements.
“We do installation, consulting, and project management,” Kendall says, listing just some of the services offered by FASTSIGNS.
“We like to partner with people like GCI ad agency or Williams Group, to send clients there if they’re looking for a new branding position,” she says. “Then we can help them with ideas to incorporate that into a big branding project and help them make everything come together and work together.”
Some FASTSIGNS projects that locals are likely to know include signage for the Lacey Chamber of Commerce, Timberland Bank, and KFC/Taco Time. The company has created sandblasted signs for Hometown Property Management and many others. They’ve also designed and installed graphics used on Washington State Patrol cars, and create the highway signs that direct travelers to the nearest gas stations, restaurants, and hotels.
FASTSIGNS
4127 Pacific Ave.
Lacey WA 98503
360.438.3800
Visit FASTSIGNS Facebook page by clicking here.
