D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
February
2008
Give Us a Sign!
At Signergy, every day is flag day. Plus: Historic theater for sale, Cruces' new call center, cutting-edge knives, downtown developments, Walgreen's switcheroo and more.
Got a sweetheart? Are you a Giants or Patriots fan? With Valentine's Day and Super Bowl XLII (that's "42") this month, Signergy has just what you need to send your message flying high.
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Diana Herrera, who
co-owns Signergy in Las Cruces with her husband, Marvin, displays a few
of the company's more whimsical items. On the back wall are some of the
company's huge selection of standard, in-stock signs. (Photo by Donna
Clayton Lawder) |
Diana Herrera, who co-owns the 14-year-old Las Cruces business with her husband, Marvin, holds up just a few of the fun items her company sells: flags and windsocks with logos and in the official team colors, bright fabric flags with hearts and messages of love, items to adorn a home, garden, yard or business.
"People really love flags," Herrera says. "They're fun and you can change them all the time, for the holidays, for a new baby, whatever. They're very expressive. We call flags a 'flying sign.' It gets the information — whatever it is — out there for people to see."
Valentine- and spring-themed flags have been, well, flying out of the shop lately, she says, along with football merchandise, of course.
Traditional flags — of the US and state of New Mexico variety — are steady sellers, too. Signergy has provided official flags to the City of Las Cruces, one of its largest customers, for years.
"We sell some of everything to the city," Herrera says. "Big signs, banners, you name it. Yes, tons of flags!"
Signergy also stocks a wide variety of kites, including stunt kites and parafoils, in ripstop nylon in bold colors. For the novice, there are simple yet elegant single-line kites.
Or you can order custom kites. Having a big company outing? Get kites made with your company logo — a handful or hundreds — to give out to your employees. Signergy also stocks all the accessories, like string, spool kits, handles and wrist straps for you to launch your kite.
Windsocks have become very popular, Herrera says, and now come in 3-D. She pulls out some colorful examples sporting rainbow colors or stars-and-stripes or shaped like butterflies and bumblebees. The puffy, 3-D effect adds something new, she says.
But while it does a good business in colorful, whimsical items, Signergy's bread-and-butter are the basic signs that every business, school and organization needs. Signergy has a huge stock of signs, ready to go. Herrera gestures across a wall filled with everything from "No Parking" to "Handicapped Access" to "Sold!"
Signergy can make anything an individual or organization could need, signage-wise, she says. Banners, Herrera points out, give great bang for the buck. They're large attention-grabbers, flexible and much cheaper than permanent signs. But Signergy also makes the permanent variety of signage, in everything from corrugated plastic to sheet metal.
The company has earned the business of a variety of local companies for years. Herrera flips through a thick binder, examples of products the company has made for clients large and small.
"That's KN Enterprises. They're our neighbors," she says of the purveyor of mowers, rugged utility vehicles, tractors, trailers and the like. Other regular local customers include the City of Las Cruces, Doa Ana Community College, KRWG radio and White Sands Missile Range. The company produced a huge lighted sign for Gateway Storage on Spruce Avenue. The Las Cruces public schools buy their US and state flags from Signergy each year, along with banners for sports and special events.
Herrera says that when she and her husband opened Signergy in Las Cruces, there were only eight sign businesses in town. "Now there are 25!" she exclaims. "But we are still getting our piece of the pie. We are still growing."
Good products and pricing are, of course, crucial to developing a strong roster of clients and healthy repeat business. But Herrera insists that, above all else, service is what sets Signergy apart.
"Turn-around time is very important," she says, adding that the company can fulfill even custom orders in two to three days. "People come to us and actually complain about how long it took for them to get products from another company."
Signergy is a family-owned and operated business: All four Herreras — mom, dad, son and daughter — work in the shop. While they all handle customers, phones and the cash register, Herrera says husband Marvin, with a prior career in life-insurance sales, is great at taking order specs and setting up contracts.
"If you can sell life insurance, you can sell anything," she says with a laugh. "He's really great with all the details."
She says she spends most of her time in the back room on the computer — putting her computer degree to good use — designing new items and custom products for clients.
Perhaps her daughter is getting ready to follow in Mom's footsteps. "She's studying graphic design at NMSU," Herrera says. And their son, a high school senior, "does a little bit of everything, whatever we need him to do," she says with a smile.
Herrera says she loves creating beautiful products all day, is happy to work with her family members in their own business, and is very rewarded by the relationships she develops with repeat customers and the chance to meet new people.
She says she and her husband have an eye toward growth, and hope to open another store in El Paso or another big city.
"Big cities are good for our type of business because there are big companies who need what we sell, what we do," she says. "And then you give those business a good product and good service and they want you back, they want more from you. And then you are on your way!"
Signergy, 1695 N. Main St., Las Cruces, 523-5048, www.signergy.com
For Sale
It'd just be silly to think Business Exposure could list every commercial property being offered for sale or changing hands in our readership area, but we do try to let you know about some of the significant or more interesting ones. Here are a couple of items that may be of interest, either for their sheer size, usage or history:
The historic Gila Theatre is up for sale. The partially renovated historic 12,600-square-foot commercial property in downtown Silver City, owned by a group of partners, includes five commercial rental spaces and a two-bedroom, income-generating apartment. The property is listed for sale at $639,000 and is described on the online commercial real estate service, LoopNet.com (property.loopnet.com, ID number 15437820), or call (800) 226-0118.
The building now housing Teleperformance and Ace Hardware on Hwy. 180 in Silver City also is listed for sale at $3,745,000. LoopNet.com describes the property as a two-tenant building of approximately 67,052 square feet, with 14,000 square fee still vacant. The building, the first home of the town's Wal-Mart, was originally developed by the big retailer. After Wal-Mart moved up the street in 2005 to open a "super store," it leased 36,000 square feet in the old building to Solectron Corp., a national telemarketing company that operated a Stream call center at the site. Teleperformance USA, a subsidiary of France-based telemarketing giant SR Teleperformance, extended its lease this year to Aug. 31, 2009, and Ace Hardware has a new 10-year lease that commenced last September.
Under "sold!," Arizona businessman Mike Brinton has purchased the old MorningStar property on Bullard Street in Silver City for his new Whiskey Creek Steakhouse & Saloon, and bought the Buffalo Bar & Dance Hall across the street. See this month's Table Talk for all the foodie details!