With sales slowing, retailers are paying more attention to improving the signs that bring customers into their stores. And that means a bump in business for Los Angeles signmakers.

New technology has made LED signs light-emitting diode signs, similar to the large scoreboards in sports arenas affordable for shopkeepers. And on-site signage doesn’t violate Los Angeles’ tightening billboard regulations.

“Right now signs are booming,” said Eugene Kang, director of sales and marketing at MegaSign Inc. in Los Angeles. “We have too many orders, and we have back orders piling up.”

Brian Wieters, director of franchise development for Texas-based FastSigns, a temporary-sign company with six stores in L.A. County, said: “Typically in a slower economy, companies will still spend money on marketing, which leads to more signage.

“Of course, some parts of that marketing budget will be cut, but signage is an inexpensive way to keep marketing.”

Signs can be classified in two categories: temporary and permanent. Temporary signs are printed on paper, vinyl or foam board, and may last from a few weeks up to several years. They typically cost $300 to $400. Permanent signs, also called architectural signs, involve construction and can cost anywhere from a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars.

In an economic slowdown, some business owners don’t want to bear the expense of permanent signage. Still, both sectors of the sign industry claim they are experiencing good business.

Kang said his company specializes in permanent LED electric signs, which allow the owners to rotate multiple messages on the same sign. A typical LED sign costs between $1,000 and $5,000, and can rotate up to 100 messages.

Buyers for such signs include liquor stores and dry cleaners, dentists and insurance brokers.

Gas station owners, long a major customer base for signs, like the LED technology because they can change the price of gas with a remote control rather than manually switching plastic numbers.

Another major client base consists of strip mall landlords that buy one sign and put rotating messages on it for various tenants. Sometimes retailers even buy the sign and generate income by charging neighboring stores for posting messages.

“Once you buy the display, you can use it for yourself or advertise other people in your plaza,” said Kang.

A Small Business Administration study on signage found that an electronic message display can increase business 15 percent to 150 percent.

Changing signs

FastSigns has seen its business continue to grow in the downturn, even as its client base has shifted away from construction firms and toward retailers. In the real estate sector, the need for “For Sale” signs has diminished, but the “For Lease” signs have taken up the slack.

“The needs change as the economy changes, but we haven’t seen any negative sales trends,” Wieters said.

FastSigns plans to expand in Southern California. The chain currently has six franchises in operation and one under construction in Los Angeles County. The company has a goal of opening eight to 10 stores here in the next 24 months.

The city of L.A.’s ban on new off-site billboards doesn’t apply to on-site signage, but there are zoning regulations, commercial lease agreements and city laws that restrict what a company owner can do.

Jeff Aran, director of government relations for the California Sign Association in Sacramento, advises business owners to hire a sign company that knows the local regulations.

“If you put in a sign, you’ll need six or seven inspections concrete, electrical, planning approvals, even fabricator licenses,” he cautioned.

Sign regulations vary according to real estate zone classifications, but beside the government, private commercial landlords usually have their own rules. Within a shopping center, for example, the size of a sign may depend on square footage of a store or the length of a store’s frontage.

“In L.A. in particular, you have these centers with multitenant signs with 30 or 40 business names. In my opinion, they’re unreadable,” Aran said. “If you see a center with nice signage, you tend to notice it. Part of that has to do with regulation, part with the developer’s signage policy, and finally with the sign company’s design capability.”

The regulation of electronic signs differs from city to city, but in general, if the sign is outside it can’t have graphics in motion, Kang said. As a result, many customers buy the sign and hang it inside their business behind a window, which can dim its brightness and colors.

It’s a limitation he believes is holding his company back.

“If the cities would be a little more lenient as far as permits go, people could put the signs outside,” Kang said.