Sign business going up
Local company is leaving its mark all over Gallup

Hinkley Signs employee L.D. Ellis grabs a neon light from a pile of sign letters to be installed on the top of the new truck service center at the Pilot truck stop in Jamestown. Hinkley Signs makes and installs signs of all shapes and sizes and can produce neon and L.E.D lettering in its Gallup shop. [Photo by John A. Bowersmith/Independent]

By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

Hinkley Signs employee Gilbert Mexican spot welds a big "O" together in the company's Gallup shop. Hinkley Signs makes banners and signs of all shapes and sizes. [Photo by John A. Bowersmith/Independent]

GALLUP — Signs, signs, everywhere signs.

And almost all of the signs in and around Gallup are the product of one company: Hinkley Signs.

If any company in Gallup can be said to dominate such a visible part of Gallup, it's got to be Hinkley Signs.

From small "For sale" signs to major works like the ones at El Rancho, Jay Hinkley and his staff of six have been the dominant maker of signs in this area even since its forerunner, Zeon Signs, was taken over by the Hinkley family 17 years ago.

And things have only gotten better in recent months with the city government sending letters to owners whose signs have begun looking a little seedy, informing them that it was time to spruce them up or face the consequences.

As soon as the city started the program, Hinkley said his phone began ringing and it hasn't stopped since.

"We were busy even before the city enacted that law," said Jay Hinkley. But since then, orders have been coming in almost daily.

Yes, being in the sign business in Gallup is good.

Now that Butch, his father, has retired, the business is being handled by Jay and his daughter, Jay Lyn the potential third generation works at the company as a secretary. There is also a brother and a brother-in-law; so labeling it a family business is no big stretch.

Locals probably take signs for granted since they see them daily. They notice them only when one or more of the lights go out.

"When you have a Shell sign and the S goes out, you may have a problem," Hinkley said.

It's not uncommon, however, to see a light or two out on a major neon sign for months, leaving one to question why the owner doesn't break down and buy a couple of new light bulbs and make the sign right again.

But that's part of human nature, Hinkley said. "People will let that go for months and then in April, just before the tourist season starts, will call and want it fixed," he said.

Hinkley Signs is an all-service dealer. If you have a need for a sign, whether it be painted, neon or some new-fangled sign with all kind of messaging, they can do all of this and more in-house without having to farm out any of the work.

Except painted signs are no longer in, Hinkley said, because paint fades after a few years, and the sign becomes a symbol of faded glory or a business that has seen better days.

These kinds of signs now use vinyl lettering and designs, so five years from the day they were hung up, the colors are as bright and vibrant as day one. They also last five times as long as painted signs.

Neon is also on the way out, he said, being taken over by something called LED lighting, which is better.

And what's really in is those sexy message signs like the ones that casinos have that have all kinds of messages and designs and bright lights.

The closest one of those to Gallup right now is at Sky City Casino, 80 miles to the east. But not for long.

Hinkley said he's working on one now to be installed in Window Rock and once people see what that one can do, he expects that more businesses will be interested, even though the cost is far greater than a simple sign that gives the business name and logo.

But too many of the message signs now out there forget one thing, Hinkley said. They have to take into consideration just how much time the message will be viewed by a driver and plan accordingly.

Too many have messages that run two or three minutes when a driver, from the time he first can read the message to the time he passes it, usually has less than a minute to read and absorb.

When people come to him with a request for a sign, he said he asks the important questions: What are you trying to say; who are you trying to say it to and, maybe the most important, how much money do you have to spend?

If your business is trying to attract business off the Interstate, he said, bigger is probably your best bet.

A billboard will let travelers know you are around, but the sign is key to getting them to actually stop, especially if you are a hotel or motel owner and you have dozens of competitors who have their own idea of what kind of signs are needed.

At that point, you have to know what the customer is looking for and be able to come up with a sign that will cater to that need, whether it be a free continental breakfast, high-speed internet for the workaholic businessman, or the lack of train noise for those who really want a good night's sleep.

Another key, less is better. "People don't have time to read a storyboard," Hinkley said.

And, oh, yes, probably the one question everyone wants to ask of a company that may spend several weeks on a huge lighted sign and then has to put it up on one of those windy Gallup days: Have you ever dropped one?

"No," said Hinkley, knocking his knuckles on the desk. "We have learned that you have to be really, really careful."

But if one makes signs, one must be aware of the winds that hit Gallup several times a year.

"You can't put a sign in Gallup up 50 or 100 feet," he said.

As for the sign business, there are no depressions, no recessions. Everyone at one time or another needs a sign.

After 17 years, Hinkley said he can think of no other life than as a sign maker and for most Gallup businessmen, they can not think of a Gallup without two or three Hinkley signs on every block.