Lip-Smackin

According to the National Restaurant Assn., the United States boasts nearly one million eateries. With these abundant options, restaurants must use all available resources to differentiate themselves. A strong identity is doubly important for small franchises and independent establishments.

When Slack’s Hoagie Shack, a Philadelphia-based, 16-store chain that serves an array of sandwiches, wraps and Buffalo wings, opened a new location in Wilmington, DE, its owners enlisted Spring Valley Signs (Farmington, PA) to fabricate a three-panel, dimensional, entry sign. Using Sign Arts Products Corp. 18-lb. Sign*Foam® 3, fabricators fashioned two, 60 x 32-in. text panels and a 72 x 30-in., super-stuffed sandwich using hand tools, SA International FlexiExpert to design the system, and a Roland DGA Corporation CAMM1 Pro plotter to create the layout. Spring Valley garnished the succulent graphics with 23k goldleaf and acrylic-latex paint.

Considering stratospheric ad rates for TV and print ads, the $6,000 franchise owner Tim Cooley paid for the sign represents a wise investment.