Daubmann with Robert Leblanc,
left, and David Cadonet.
Company: AA Thrifty Sign Company
Owners: George and Carolyn Daubmann
Type of business: Commercial on-premise sign designer and manufacturer
Location: 221 Jefferson Boulevard
Employees: 31
Year founded: 1946
Annual revenues: $2.5 million
Some people might question George Daubmann’s marketing technique – a neon sign in the middle of his showroom, flashing the name of someone else’s business.
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But for Daubmann that flashing sign is what his business is all about – that flashing sign and numerous others that hang on the white walls of his showroom on Jefferson Boulevard in Warwick. His company, AA Thrifty Sign, designed and manufactured each of them.
“Business owners come here with their ideas, and we turn them into images,” Daubmann said. “We help people market their business.”
Daubmann and his wife Carolyn bought the business, then called AA Sign Company and based in Coventry, from Al Andrew in 1986.
“At the time I interviewed five different sign companies for sale,” Daubmann said. “I was working as a national sales manager for a glass company, and I thought with my energy and outlook I could be successful.”And while the company’s annual revenues may top $2.5 million today, it hasn’t always done this well. In fact, Daubmann has faced a number of challenges, including a credit union crisis, and the implementation of new statewide standards for the sign industry.
“In 1991 the state decided that sign companies should be licensed,” he said. “In fact, they told us that we couldn’t do installations if we weren’t licensed. So I lobbied with several other sign company owners to get a limited license.”
The concern, Daubmann said, was that the state was pushing to have all signs erected by certified electricians – a requirement that would have eliminated more than half of his business.
After months of lobbying at the state house, Daubmann was pleased with the final results.
“The law says that the business must be licensed, and the owner must have a contractor’s license,” he said. “Individuals doing the installation must be licensed. Our mode for licenses has been picked up by other states. It provided safety guidelines while at the same time allowing us to retain our business.”
Shortly after the regulations passed, the business faced another challenge – the Rhode Island credit union crisis. With most of his assets tied up in a local credit union, Daubmann found himself trapped.
“I had just opened a small retail shop called Thrifty Sign on Jefferson Boulevard, when the banking crisis hit,” he said. “My business, like others was affected.”
When the crisis ended, Daubmann realized there had been one benefit. The credit union, which held some of the company’s assets also held the deed to a prime piece of property along one of Warwick’s busiest thoroughfares – Jefferson Boulevard.
Daubmann traded his frozen assets for the property, allowing him to build a new storefront and combine his Coventry based AA Sign, and his annex Thrifty Sign into one – AA Thrifty Sign.
“I wanted to be on Main Street USA,” he said. “That’s what this is. It was perfect for us.”
The company has found great success in diversity.
“We focus on the small, independent businesses,” Daubmann said. “We don’t want just one account, we like variety. I like the everyday challenge of a new idea, a new sign, and a new look.”
And customers do too — Daubmann said 75 percent of his business are repeat customers.
“I was shocked when I first started running this company how many people came back,” he said. “But if they like one sign and have found it to be successful in getting customers into the store, they will be back.”
To design a successful sign, Daubmann said, you have to understand the customer, their business and see the ideas that they have.
“We take these ideas and make them a reality,” he said. “We call it constructive selling when we take a person’s ideas and with an honest slant try and direct and help them create the perfect sign.”
The price tag can be as varied as the signs themselves depending on the material, labor, size and installation. For customers that may not be able to afford a brand new sign, Daubmann said he also offers used materials.
Manufacturing 95 percent of its signs has forced the company to be diverse and its employees trained in a variety of skills. Bending its own neon, hand-carving some signs, and painting others makes cross-training employees vital.
“Working with glass, aluminum, and metal, the workers are multi-talented,” Daubmann said. “They come from a multi-crafted background. We have a lot of long term employees here that go back 35 to 40 years.”
And while the warehouse may be filled with Burger King signs today, Daubmann doesn’t know what will be there six months from now. However, he is confident that it will be something.
“I like the slow steady approach,” he said. “This is my vision. This is what I expected and wanted. It’s in line with my goals and I don’t expect that to change.”
(Photo, Tom Croke).
