ARCHIVE: Category Archive for: Enclosures

A Peek Ahead to 2022

While we don’t have a handy Magic 8 ball able to reliably predict the future, it hasn’t stopped us from making some educated guesses about next year’s signage industry trends. They include: Minimalism in design. We’ll continue to see signs focused on clean, crisp images that evoke elegance. Improved sustainability. As more companies embrace ESG (environmental, social, and governance) policies, they’re incorporating eco-friendly initiatives into their buildings, including signage construction, materials, and power. One of Metro’s recent clients, TÜV SÜD—a Germany-based company offering safety, security, and sustainability solutions—opted to use an innovative wall sign for its U.S. headquarters, for example. Metro’s partner, CityScapes, recommended the preserved moss material featured in the sign. Initially, the clients asked to use real wood

The restaurant industry has always operated on a shoestring budget. When COVID-19 arrived in early 2020, restaurant owners and operators had to stretch budgets even further. The pandemic—and its necessary social distancing—required owners to rethink how to serve their customers, keep staff and patrons safe, and generate profit. The past 17 months haven’t been easy. With severely diminished profits—restaurants have struggled to pay their bills. According to a new survey from the Alignable Research center, nearly 40% of restaurants couldn’t pay June’s rent this year. While a slight improvement over the 49% of restaurants struggling to make rent in May, the picture remains stark for this industry in recovery. In June 2021, Congress sent an amendment to the floor that

Consumers Want Curbside, Outdoor Dining to Stay in 2021

A recent National Restaurant Association survey found 83% of diners aren’t eating in person at restaurants as often as they’d like, up from 45% pre-pandemic. Many restaurants, including chains like Denny’s, Red Robin, and Texas Roadhouse, added — and plan to keep — outdoor dining. Other restaurants have developed and promoted more creative experiences for their customers including wine tastings and cooking lessons. Learn more!

5 Types of Signage No Retailer Can Afford to Ignore

Quality signage is an easy and effective way to drive foot traffic and communicate with your customers when designing your store. However, if done incorrectly, signage can cause overstimulation and even confusion. Signage at your place of business is just as important as your website design and shouldn’t be an afterthought.

Exterior Signage for All Seasons

Here in New England, we live with the extremes: from the cold and wind of Nor’easters to the heat and glaring sun of the summer These weather extremes are an excellent reason why awnings and enclosures can be so valuable: reduce your energy costs and save you money. When calculating the return on investment for awnings or enclosures though, in addition to this reduction in costs, there is an even bigger benefit: they increase your revenue by increasing your selling space. Read on to learn how. Enclosures Grow Revenue and Brand All Year We help many businesses, such as hotels, restaurants and stores, by creating enclosures that help provide weatherproofing to their outdoor areas. The enclosures can aid in increasing

Tips for Getting the Best Commercial Awning for Your Business

Some signage manufacturers don’t do awnings. We do. Some stick with just the basics. We do a little more. If you’re in the market for a new awning, enclosure, or canopy for your business, we invite you to contact us to discuss your plans, needs, branding and budget. Call us at 978-851-2424 or send us a note about your business plans. Looking for Awning Ideas? Below are some of our most popular posts and publications on awnings and enclosures. If you have questions about size or fit, durability, installation, maintenance, cost, or something else, please contact us. With more decades of experience in commercial signage, storefront awnings and service enclosures, we can help you accurately determine what is the best investment for you and your business. And warranties?

When we’re talking about awnings and canopies, size, shape, design, and materials matter. Although they are designed for practical purposes, awning and canopies also add interest and eye-catching appeal to buildings and entrances. Awning Shapes, Canopy Designs Shed and waterfall awnings are what most people think of when they think of as traditional awning shapes. Alternatives to the most traditional awning shapes include concave, elongated dome, gable designs, and other “artistic” awnings that function as design features, especially on otherwise unremarkable building architecture. Designed to Demand Attention, Built to Last Likewise, while common canopy styles are functional and offer a clean visual element, more elaborate styles can serve special purposes. For example, cantilevers, multigon, and sail shapes lend themselves to

Did you know that Metro Sign and Awning works with many hotel and restaurant owners to create semi-temporary enclosures that add a degree of weather-proofing to their outdoor areas? Properly done, these enclosures extend the outdoor seating season and thereby add revenue for restaurants. They’re able to contain heaters placed in the enclosed area, as necessary, to allow the space to be used quite comfortably during the colder months, here in New England. We’ve also worked with hotels to create enclosures to block the wind and weather around pick up / drop off areas. This makes hotel ingress and egress for guests and visitors far more inviting and hospital. Material Choice Important For many of the enclosures we use “Weathertyte”

EMCs Examined: Sign Technology Has Come a Long, Long Way I walked into my local grocer the other day and was surprised and pleased to see a brand new Samsung video screen hung high over the counter and used as an Electronic Message Center (EMC). With its text and graphics capabilities, it is everything you could want a sign to be: vivid,clear, attention grabbing, and memorable. It’s also cost effective. The sight made me think back over the history of variable message signs, and reflect on just how far we’ve come in the sign industry. Movable Type Mechanically variable signs have been around for a longtime. Think about movie theater marquees, for example, where letters and numbers were physically attached