Bob and Teresa Kaschak: The evolution of a custom sign business

For the Kaschaks, their sign business has been a three-decade work-in-progress. It has evolved from a part-time basement sign shop to a full-time custom sign business in a 2,000-sq.-ft. shop that they designed and built out. It shares the same property as their home in the Adirondack Mountains in northernmost reaches of New York State.

Bob started making signs in the early nineties. Carving redwood signs was a natural step from his lifelong interest in woodworking, and one sign led to another. Soon he was in the sign business, alongside his daytime career as a jet engine engineer. Before long, he quit to make signs full time. He and his work were featured in the September/October 2005 issue of SignCraft.

Over the years, Teresa did the bookkeeping and helped out when she could. In 2021, she joined Bob full time in the sign business.

“It’s working better with two of us here full time,” she says. “When I was working my corporate job, it was sometimes hard for us to keep up with everything. Now we have the capacity to grow. As married business partners, it was important for us to identify each other’s strengths and weaknesses. I’ve spent my working life in accounting and human resources, so it’s natural that I do the books, field calls, set appointments, prepare quotes and invoices, and communicate with clients.

“I don’t attend the initial client meetings – this is not my strength. I tend to get too excited. Bob is an attentive listener and a natural educator. This is his strength, so he focuses on sales. He does most, but not all, of the design work and the more creative detail work and gilding of gold leaf.

“We both paint and create tool paths for the router as well as many other shared responsibilities. I joke on installation days that having upper arm strength wasn’t a prerequisite of this marriage, but here I am.”

The new shop

In 2017 they were outgrowing their basement-and-garage shop and wanted to add equipment. They found a piece of property that had a home and a 36-by-56-ft. steel building on it. It was just a shell—open to the rafters and a dirt floor. They bought it.

“We built the shop out just the way we wanted it.” Bob said. “We cleaned it out, poured a floor and insulated it very well. We have a 15-by-19-ft. office and paint room where I can do spray painting. I only spray latex paints but it’s good to have a room for that, separate from the shop.

“After years of working in a basement shop at first and then a garage shop, I wanted to have a clean, well-lit, organized shop. Our new shop is a dream shop with built-in worktables and a dust filtration system. We have plenty of LED lighting, too. Often the first things customers say when they come in is ‘Wow, it’s really nice in here…’”

…and new equipment

Three years ago, they added a 5×10 ShopBot CNC router with a vacuum hold down and an automatic tool changer. They considered a 4×8 but opted for the larger version. Bob says that turned out to be a wise move in time savings and expanded capability.

“It takes some courage to make changes in your business. Adding a router is no exception. I’ve talked with many other sign people who bought a router but didn’t take the time to learn what it can do. Some aren’t using it at all. It’s sad. We took the time to learn how to use it and it has paid off. It saves a lot of production time and increases our capacity to be creative.”

Signs that last

Quality and durability have always been important to them, and Bob emphasizes both of those in his sales efforts. He has used exterior acrylic latex finishes for decades. All of their dimensional signs are made with HDU board.

“The quality of acrylic latex paint has gone up over the past ten years. I start with a couple coats of primer, even on HDU. You don’t have to prime HDU, but you get a nicer finish if you do. I use Jay Cooke’s Sign Primer. We use Benjamin Moore MoorGlo Soft Gloss for the finish coats. Some folks like Moore’s Aura line, which is a heavier bodied paint, but I like MoorGlo.

“We spray the base coats then add the hand work over that—lettering, border striping and gold leaf. It’s a durable system—I have signs out for 20 or 25 years that still look good.”

The work and the market

Teresa describes their business as “primarily a creative, dimensional custom sign shop.” As a result of their longtime focus on this work, they don’t do any cut vinyl or printed signs—though they have been painting a few murals lately.

Peru is a small town of about 5,000, surrounded by other small towns. The nearest larger town is about 10 miles away and has a population of about 20,000.

“We don’t have a large market,” says Teresa. “Other sign people often tell us that they couldn’t do this type of work in their town and that surprises us. I’m not saying it’s always easy, but it can be done.”

“We find that good zoning is the best friend of our type of sign business. If the sign codes are poor and a business can throw up a $300 banner as their primary sign, they aren’t going to invest $12,000 in a better-looking, more effective sign.”

“Strict zoning encourages better signage. With bad zoning, you get these very generic, unappealing signs. Good zoning eliminates that problem.”

Because the business grew as their reputation grew, Bob and Teresa haven’t had to market their work aggressively. Most customers have come as referrals or by seeing the shop’s work. Teresa is also making an effort to use social media to build awareness for their business. They just hired a social media agency to increase and manage their online presence. “We just don’t have the time to do that,” she says, “and it’s best to hire out your weaknesses.”

Out of the rat race

One of the things that drew Bob to the custom sign business was the pleasure and satisfaction of the work. He worked in the corporate world for years, testing jet engines. It was stressful work. He did it first in the military then in the private sector—which he says was “like the military on steroids.” He liked the work, but there was a lot of tension involved.

“If you watch any of the TV shows,” he says, “that show people doing whatever they do everyday—restoring cars, working on crab boats or whatever—you get to see how the work impacts these people. You often see frustration and anger, and sometimes rough language. But when you see shows on creative people, artisans, rural people or people who are involved with nature, the tone is much more laid back and peaceful.

“In an industrial environment or on a production line, you hear that tension and angst. But at a Letterhead or Walldog meet, you never pick up on that. Everyone enjoys what they do. They love their work.

“That’s why I have always valued making signs so much. It was the complete opposite of the corporate world. It was relaxing and pleasurable—and it still is 30 years later.”